Flashing lights and sounds
by Jedi-And
Summary: The official sequel to Legend Maker's "Wings Of The Eagles." New day, new problems, as the Titans are faced with a foe with a name even more pretentious then Savior. But can he back it up...?
1. Introduction: The price of Heroism

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins, but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
Authors note: Welcome to the first instalment of Flashing Lights and Sounds. Which is a serious story. Why say that? Well, I hadn't written one in a while so I found myself unchallenged and losing the literary skills I had built up with some of my fics. And so here we start with another fic, of (hopefully) gigantic proportions and with any luck it will be liked. This is in between the events of the author Legend Maker's fics so read all of them, especially Black and White.  
  
One last thing. I've heard of a rumour of a blonde hair Titan that became Beast Boy's girlfriend, or at least the best pair. Sorry but I don't know who she is, nor do I frankly care. I'm English, which means we won't get any new information until several months after the States.  
  
But enjoy anyway.  
  
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Chapter 1: Price of Heroism.  
  
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Behold Jump City, a fairly nice place to live, and yet riddled with crime and hate, as per any place where humans lived. From this city came a group who claimed to be their saviours, a group of teenaged heroes whose birthright, origins, training and/or just their ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong time had given them unique and (dare I say) special gifts. And no, these gifts were not the kind you might get on your birthday. Something higher, stranger. Powers beyond the imagination. One that seemed to tear holes in every crime and villain that was unfortunate enough to come across them.  
  
They call themselves Titans, after the beings that spawned the Roman gods, and as self-serving as it sounds it makes sense, as they have not been beaten. Beaten to a pulp at times, but not beaten. Champions and defenders, and unlike their nameksake, they have even beaten gods.  
  
But what set them apart even more was despite all this, many remained down to Earth. Even on the quiet evenings you could see someone from this illustrious squad of the underage roaming the streets.  
  
"Why me?"  
  
Then again, it may not be by choice. As we can see, one of them is already out and about on a mission. A great mission! Far more important than tracking down a villain, far more important than finding clues for a case. Oh yes, even far more important than bringing down another bad guy. This mission is at the top of the Titans list of important things. It was...  
  
"Three pepperoni, two anchovy, one with LOTS of tofu, two cheese, a Hawaiian and a few bottles of cola, to go Al. Oh and don't forget the Mustard jars..."  
  
Pizza.  
  
"Right-O Beast boy."  
  
We know this child's face. It was the famous green skinned wonder that was the changeling Beast boy, AKA Garfield Logan, able to change in to every animal that had ever existed, and even some that may not, including mythical creatures like the Minotaur, Griffons and Chimeras. It was a useful talent, in battle and others. Beast Boy remembered the time he and Starfire went to a party as Medusa, Gar being the hair of course.  
  
Tonight was Pizza night. Unable to decided what to have each night the Titans worked up a set schedule. Mondays was Pizza, Tuesdays was Chinese, Wednesday was fast food (their equivalent to McDonald's), Thursday was Meat Night, Friday was Home Cooking (though the Titans tended to be scarce on this day when Starfire's turn rolled around), Saturday was breakfast night (Author's Note: I have to admit, I have had breakfast at dinner time. What, you haven't? Weirdos) and Sunday was Contest Night, in which whoever was drawn out of the hat won the chance for their favourite meal or restaurant. Seeing as this was Monday, it happened to be Pizza Night.  
  
I believe I had mentioned the magical hat, a hat with all their names in. As mentioned, it was used for Sunday, but it was also used by the Titans to decide who was going to go pick up certain orders of food. The hat belonged to Garfield Logan, or Gar as he preferred. Strangely, the owner of the hat had not been picked to go collect food for at least a few months now, and since this kind of luck seemed rather suspect, the newest member of the Titans, a teenager by the name of Noel Collins, AKA Savior, rigged the hat drawing and replaced ALL the names in the hat with Gar's name. While he had been doing so, he realized that Beast Boy indeed possessed no such luck: he had rigged it so that he would never be chosen by making sure none of the pieces of paper had his name on them.  
  
Got to love Karma.  
  
And so, the green super hero was standing in the best Pizzeria in town, freezing cold and rather annoyed. Why couldn't it be Starfire? Or maybe Raven, they can both fly without having to change into a form that wasn't well equipped for cold weather. But then again, both would probably be with their partners, their "true loves" and they wouldn't want to be fetching food when they could be kissing, or worse, doing something mature. Like conversing.  
  
But even as Gar stewed, and our imaginations pondered what Tim Drake and Kory Anders and Noel Collins and Raven might be doing, fate is winding up again. The ever elusive butterfly effect would soon be coming in to play. You know the one, right? If a butterfly flapped its wings in America, a hurricane would happen in England or some nonsense like that.  
  
Yes, nonsense.  
  
Maybe.  
  
Now everything seemed as normal as could be, even if you're only five foot three with green skin staring down a well-dressed man waiting for your surprisingly large (and strange) order. Or at least that was the general feeling at any rate for the citizens of Jump city. Seeing Beast Boy, or indeed ANY of the Titans was almost commonplace, and although it was a worthwhile event, they did appear often enough so that the charm had worn a bit thin.  
  
"It will be a few moments Sir. Please take a seat." Replied Al's son (who is Al? Then again, maybe we should not enquire, some fans of CGI may expect a rousing answer of "WHAT?"), a well dressed business man who was soon to take over the business.  
  
Beast Boy sat, not minding the wait (though he still minded the fetching. He could turn INTO dogs, he wasn't one!). Then again, as long as he could get some food in him, and as long as Cyborg and the others didn't complain, he would survive. And his mental process would have begun dwelling on more on recent events had not something happened outside.  
  
A clanging. An all too familiar sound of clanging. A very specific clang and that was a metal dustbin kind of clang.  
  
To be utterly specific, a metal dustbin against someone kind of clang.  
  
Beast Boy shot forth from his seat and sprinted outside to see what looked like a two on one contest. Strangely, the one was winning. The two were a man and a woman, around the Titans' age, setting up for an attack. The woman was dressed in large shoulder pads with black gaps with purple writing inside them, and each written character looked strange and mythical. Her costume also consisted of a swimsuit much like Raven's, but with a pattern on it split with a stripe down the middle, across her waist. Her hair had a centre parting and the rest was done up in to two braids that flowed back together to form one. She probably had other clothing on, but it being dark at the moment it was hard any more details.  
  
The man was slightly easier to distinguish, as he wore what looked like a sleeveless long coat with the image of wings on the back and shoulders, embossed and highly detailed. Or at least that would have been what Beast Boy would have seen had the darkness made it too hard to tell. His hair was covered by what seemed to be a bandana, but the exact colour was (again) hard to make out.  
  
The final guy, the one against the two, was hidden in shadow even more then the previous two, but one thing did catch the eyes of Beast Boy, and that was the glint coming from the claws of the assailant. They were silver talons, with two sharp fingers and a claw like thumb, each intersection overlapping into another to form two viscous hands...  
  
And then something happened. The final figure's eyes opened, glowing a distinct colour of blue, a dark and almost sinister blue.  
  
A gasp escaped Beast Boy, as he wondered if an old foe of the Titans had somehow returned from the dead, but no sooner than he had finished his surprised noise then the partners turned.  
  
"Titans!" The young woman called. The man next to her got ready to attack, but Beast Boy barely noticed. There was something in her eyes, those bright red eyes of hers. As cliché as it sounds, their eyes met and a strange change seemed to happen in Beast Boy. They were tough eyes, far too tough for her age, but as tough as they were, there seemed to be something behind them.  
  
He didn't have the chance to find out as she pulled the man away as he started towards Beast Boy, and both jumped out of sight. The man with the dark blue's head shot upwards and paused, watching, and Beast Boy figured now was as good a time as nay to call for backup, as he pulled out his communicator.  
  
"Beast Boy to Robin! We have trouble." He said into it.  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"Al's Pizza house! And hurry, will ya?" He shouted, staring down the vicious eyes as they turned back in his direction.  
  
"Starfire's in the area, stay with what the trouble is and we'll be there shortly!" Their fearless leader called, and almost as if on cue, the figure suddenly jumped up, all the way to the top of the building...  
  
With Beast Boy following. Though the one thing in his mind, as well as his task, was 'easier said than done'. But he managed.  
  
Now out of the dark alleyway, via the lights on the roof, as well as the moon, Beast Boy finally got a good look at the figure. He appeared male, and starting at his head he wore a large brimmed red hat, much like the ones Crocodile Dundee might wear, but it wasn't made of leather, and it also had a white band around the top rather than a set of crocodile's teeth. His hair seemed a whitish colour, or at least a pale blue. It also appeared to be spiky, but not as spiky as the ears that shot out from his head. Some might have related the spiky ears to that of the fantasy figurer the elf, but these did not look nice enough: they had almost a demonic property to them, going out and back rather than up and in.  
  
Onto what he wore. It seemed to be some sort of suit, a strange design. He had a cape strapped to the shoulders via two large buckles. His suit itself was a dark red with white and black patterns on them; swirls and vine like strands that forged a shape on his back. Details Beast Boy could not provide, as the wind that was blowing cold, the same one that had frozen him as he had come to the restaurant, had suddenly subsided causing his cape to obscure the shape again. The cape was tattered at the bottom: It had obviously been dragged across the floor, but it was still a cape that was worth owning as the rest of it was thick and full, though dark. The trousers matched his suit as his feet matched his clawed hands. They had two metallic talons out front, though no thumb talon, but the design was similar enough.  
  
And we are back to the head, specifically the glowing eyes, the eyes that are focused above him at the young and just arrived Miss Starfire. Her own eyes were glowing green, and same colored energy exploded into being on her hands.  
  
Mr. Suitclaw didn't much seem to fancy her arrival though. A growl and an incoherent roar later, and the man had jumped up, slashing with his talons. This seemed to touch a nerve in Star, as her face shifted a little, going from relatively calm to battle-ready aggressive. Charging up the bolts in her hands, she swung down and fired, but Mr. Suitclaw was quicker, and dodged every shot Star made, much to the surprise of the alien girl.  
  
"I didn't know they were that quick..." She commented before she dodged the retaliatory slashes of the man.  
  
"Didn't know who was what? Star?" Gar asked, wondering what she meant or even if she had said what he thought she what she said. He changed into a bull and rushed in at full speed, but Mr. Suitclaw just jumped, ignoring Gar totally as he pressed his attack against Starfire. Beast Boy had the lovely experience of charging into and then recovering from the shock of hitting a vent at full pelt, and he looked up at Mr. Suitclaw in indignation.  
  
"Hey! What am I? Chopped liver?" He asked, changing into a bear and rushing back into the battle. Again he missed, and again he was ignored. "Dude, this has gone beyond funny."  
  
"You need more for a laugh nowadays?" a voice said, and Beast Boy looked up into the smiling face of Cyborg.  
  
"Because when we're through with him, he'll be one funny sight." Robin called, landing next to him. To complete the group, Raven appeared from the shadows, bringing her other half, Savior.  
  
"Anyone we know?" the white haired teenager asked.  
  
"Star might, I don't."  
  
"Great. Going in blind. I LOVE improv." Savior said sarcastically.  
  
And then they all charged. Savior slashed out with the Shimmer, the rope- shaped energy he commanded, slicing at the figure. Unfortunately, Mr. Suitclaw saw it just in time and dodged by jumping back. He grabbed one strand, slicing it with his claws, and Savior fell to the ground in a fit of pain, as he always did when the Shimmer was cut. That was the problem with metahuman talents linked to your nervous system.  
  
"Okay, they're sharp..." Cyborg said softly, charging his sonic cannon, but trying to get a clear shot was harder than it looked because Robin and Beast Boy had also run into the fray. Robin extended his staff and slammed it down at Mr. Suitclaw, but the figure caught it and responded with a mean left hook that sent Robin into Beast Boy. The suited male had no sooner acquired his new weapon then he threw it as hard as he could into Starfire. Well that was clearly his plan, had it not been stopped by Raven's shield. The figure paused in a state of slight shock, and that was his first mistake as he was soon blasted by Cyborg off the edge of the building, a new expression on his face: pain. "HA! Booya mother...lucker!" Cyborg said, biting off the cruder version of the word. The Titans tried their best not to swear in front of Starfire, as she did not understand the curses, nor could she use them right.  
  
"I think that was a tad bit of overkill Cyborg." Robin said, walking to the edge while rubbing his jaw. With a metal glove on, being hit hurt like hell. At least Mr. Suitclaw hadn't used his namesake, or Robin might have been a lot shorter then he was now.  
  
"So? It got him off our backs didn't it?" Beast Boy countered.  
  
"I suppose." Came Robin's reply.  
  
"All right then, let's grab those Pizzas and go ho-"  
  
Cyborg was cut off as Mr. Suitclaw made his grand return, jumping up and over the group, heading back for his original target: Starfire. This caught the group by surprise: they had not expected him to get up from a 23 story fall.  
  
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven shouted, throwing bricks at the aggressor. A few caught him, but it only slowed him down, and before she could find more he had already reached Starfire. He pulled out his own staff, this one with a blade on the end, making it more accurately a glaive.  
  
Making a hand gesture that was out of the eye view of the others he attacked, lunging at the young woman with all the strength he had. She managed to block the non-bladed part of Suitclaw's weapon with her arm, dodging away from the follow up swipe. He jumped to catch her in the air, and she dodged again and fired off Star Bolts. Raven on the other hand, was hanging back with the other Titans as she tapped into her empathetic abilities to read the feelings of both parties, though only Mr. Suitclaws' mattered.  
  
"So, what do you get?" Savior asked, looking at her.  
  
"Lost, alone, confused." She replied, her hands under her hood, covering her temples. "But I do not sense an evil intent there. More along the lines of pure animal instinct, of survival, aimed at Starfire."  
  
"Why Star?" Robin asked, concerned for the welfare of his girlfriend.  
  
"That, I can't read." Raven replied, as the two battled on. Mr. Suitclaw drew back for a punch, but it may as well have been phoned in as Star quickly, and effortlessly uppercuted him, knocking him off his feet. Star followed up by firing her Starbolts again, but he rolled out the way and jumped up, Glaive in hand, ready to bring it down onto the skull of Starfire. It was lined up and devastatingly quick, and she could not have escaped in time.  
  
If Cyborg hadn't shot him out of the sky with the sonic cannon at full power. And as bad as that was, the landing was worse, as Mr. Suitclaw went smashing through a wall, which finally rendered him unconscious. Cyborg stepped up and looked down at the fallen being.  
  
"Ya think he's out?"  
  
"For now." Was the reply from behind as all of the Titans conjugated around the fallen enemy.  
  
"I say we take him to the cops and-" Cyborg was saying before he was cut off once again. Star had butted in this time, moving forward and lifting Mr. Suitclaw up from the ground, her normally innocent expression replaced with one of determination.  
  
"What are you doing girl?!" Cyborg replied in indignation.  
  
"I wish to interrogate him myself. We will take him back to Titan Tower."  
  
"WHAT?!" Was the call from the males as Raven raised a brow.  
  
"We WILL take him back to Titan Tower." She repeated as she flew off into the distance. Savior shrugged, and then stepped over to Raven, the two following by portal as the others looked confused.  
  
"Dude, your girlfriend is crazy!" Beast boy yelled at Robin, jumping down to grab the Pizzas that had been waiting for a few minutes now.  
  
"She's going to get us all killed. I can see that now..." Cyborg muttered, and then shrugged as he made his way over to the newly rebuilt T-Car, pulling out the keys to his 'baby' and disarming the security system.  
  
Robin was also wondering what his girlfriend had on her mind, but obviously he wasn't going to know, not just yet.  
  
Not just yet... He thought to himself as he made his way to the car, hearing the curses of Beast Boy being charged triple for the damage done to the roof along with the Pizzas. Price of being a hero I suppose...  
  
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First chapter done! Hurray! Let's hope I can continue, as I mean to go on! But who was the man with the glowing eyes? Or the pair in the alleyway? We may have to wait for those answers... 


	2. Nigel: Knowlage is power

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
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Chapter Two: Knowledge is Power...  
  
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Several days after the encounter at the pizza house, the mysterious attacker was still unconscious in the medical bay, restrained and under a close supervision from the Titans at all times. Starfire rushed around nervously, only speaking incoherent gibberish whenever someone saw her, if she even deemed to speak to them at all. Even Robin had a hard time trying to cheer her up as she ventured from her room less and less.  
  
"Yo, my turn sleepy." Cyborg said, tapping Savior on the shoulder just before he nodded off into a dream filled sleep.  
  
"Wha? Oh yeah. Right. Not sleeping. Just resting my eyes." Savior yawned as he stood up. He and Raven were finding it harder and harder to get in 'quality time' ever since this thing came here, but he would try (and fail) as he had done over the week that Mr. Suitclaw was here.  
  
Cyborg sat down with a comic book and leaned back on the chair slightly. Starfire once again walked past and through the Medi-bay.  
  
"Yo Star, you sure you know this guy?" Cyborg asked. It had been determined that the man, or should I say young adult, was around the age of 17 (Earth years anyway) and that the claws he wore were not a gloved weapon, but actually a part of him. Also his skin was pale, though more white than grey like Raven's, and his hair was of a nearly white blue. Of course, the Titans had observed all these things during the battle with him, but now they "officially" knew, and that was a good thing.  
  
"Not him, but I know of his race." Star said uncomfortably, rubbing her arm as she checked his vitals again. No change.  
  
"Come again?" Cyborg asked, but all he got was complete gibberish until he asked again. Starfire had a habit of going off into her native tongue during periods of stress.  
  
"I am sorry. It is, how you say, prickly to talk about it." She rubbed her arm again, hoping he would leave it at that, but Raven, who was looking for Noel, had walked in and heard everything.  
  
"If you can't talk to us about it, who can you talk to?" She said, posing the question to Star, her hands never leaving her sides. Starfire gave her arm one last rub, then sighed, nodded and sat down in the spare chair.  
  
"Many years ago, before I was born, a war started in our galaxy. On one side was the galaxy itself and on the others were the Blacktrinians." She started, leaning on her knees slightly. Vic was going to ask but then he glanced at Mr. Suitclaw and realized.  
  
"Their Empire was strong, it spanned many worlds and ruled with fear and aggression. They were known for being fearless and hateful warriors."  
  
Raven raised a brow at this comment. She had not sensed any Hate but she had sensed a little fear from their "guest".  
  
"The war continued far away from my world and has raged for many, many Septars."  
  
"Sep-"  
  
"Two Earth years is known as a Septar." She explained.  
  
"How many Septars has it lasted?" Raven asked, now floating in mid air, her legs crossed.  
  
"About 50 now."  
  
The pair looked stunned and Raven nearly fell out of the air. That was over 100 years of fighting! The way she said it meant they where still going too!  
  
"It has wrecked havoc with the resources, draining them till there was nothing left. I do not know what happened to the great war, but I haven't been back to my home for some time...I hope they never got as far as my planet."  
  
"And now you wish to know what the outcome of the war was?" Cyborg enquired. A reply was going to be given, but a groan and a snap was heard. The Titans started, and they turned their attention to their guest, who was now sitting upright rubbing his eyes. It wouldn't be so surprising...if he hadn't been restrained with straps that would have rendered a human powerless. The jaw of the largest Titan dropped as Starfire floated over in front of him. He opened his eyes, blinking, and then looked forward, then up, and then jumped back slightly. His eyes were the same dark blue that had glowed in the alleyway, but like Starfire's eyes, the parts of the eyes that were meant to be white were a different colour, as black as pitch. He looked around with his dark eyes one more time, and then he relaxed and stood up a little. Victor was not as relaxed, as he was busy prepping his cannon.  
  
"How do you feel?" Raven asked, walking over. He paused and thought, then replied in a rough accent.  
  
"I feel a little sore." He said, rubbing his stiff neck  
  
"Great. Now that we've deemed you're not hurt, why did you attack us?" Cyborg asked, walking forward towards him with his arm raised and his cannon at full charge.  
  
"Forgive me, it was a mistake. I thought you were with the people who attacked me." He said. He spoke as if he was still learning English, but his diction seemed around the same level as Starfire. There was one difference though: he had a slight, ever so slight lisp which was caused by his large, sharp teeth. His canine tooth seemed to be doubled into itself, as in there were two of them attached together to form one huge fang.  
  
"Tell me, the war. How does it go?" Starfire said, turning him forcefully towards her. He spoke a load of random, harsh sounding words, before Star showed a side she didn't like to show.  
  
Anger.  
  
She shook him a little as he held his head, trying to stop her. "I do not understand! TELL ME NOW!" She yelled, now fully in a fit of rage, or pain, whichever seemed to work at the time, as tears streamed down her cheeks at the frustration of it all.  
  
"The war might end soon!" He tried to shout, endeavouring to make himself heard as she stopped her violent shaking, which had now rendered his knees near powerless.  
  
"The Tamaraneans? Are they safe?" She asked, silently hoping that her fears had not come true. The Tamaraneans may have produced powerful warriors, but at heart they were a peaceful race. But while being very strong in battle was just one aspect of her kind, the Blacktrinians were born for one main purpose and that was war.  
  
Or so the propaganda stated anyway. Reality and perception didn't always match up.  
  
"They have started a treaty with the Empire. It will come into effect within the next few nights." The young man said, as he struggled to keep himself up on his weakened claws. His only support was Kory's grip on him, as his knees had buckled under his own weight. "But both sides have had losses, and this was an act of desperation." He finished, telling her the whole truth. She was happy he did. Muttering something under her breath, she placed him back on the bed, and flew from the room.  
  
There was a pause before Cyborg pulled up a chair, still wary about the young man.  
  
"Interrogation time!" He said, almost happily as he sat down cannon still semi-aimed at Mr. Suitclaw. "Hey Rae! Wanna play bad cop?"  
  
"No, but I will go grab your little 'buddy' for you." Raven said, and with that she left. Soon enough, Short and Green was in the room, sitting backwards on a chair with a hat and trench coat, like he was some sort of comic book detective.  
  
"Right! Question one! Name!"  
  
"To pronounce it right, I would have to remove your tongue and reattach it with the end shaped to a point. But it basically translates into your name Nigel Hastings, Nigel or Nige to be specific."  
  
At least we have something to call him now...Mr. Suitclaw notwithstanding, but that was just plain stupid. With a glance to each other, Beast Boy took the next question.  
  
"Alright. How old are you, if you think you are SOOO smart!" He said, pointing, his hat dipped slightly.  
  
"In human terms, around 16, 17 this Thalkran." A pause. "Year." Nigel said, correcting himself before continuing.  
  
"Why did you attack Starfire?"  
  
"Instinct. I thought she was going to attack me. As the war was still in effect when I saw her I thought she was going to come after me, so I attacked first. But now I realise she only knows of the war, and does not participate in it." The Blacktrinian said, shaking his head.  
  
"Would you attack her again?"  
  
"Oh darkness no."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I did not like the war. I was weak and nothing but fodder to the generals. We've ceased to be anything to them but numbers, cattle, lacking any sense of mercy or compassion, or even honour. Injured and fleeing a battle I crashed on earth. When I came too, I realized where I had landed. I actually shouted out in joyful celebration as I was finally out of the reach of the Empire. And I would have washed my hands of the whole thing until I met you and attacked you. Again I apologize for that."  
  
"Yeah 'cuz we kicked your butt!"  
  
"Trust me, if you where fighting a proper soldier you would have been dead in five minutes."  
  
"You're not a proper soldier? Then what was with the jumping and the clawing and the swinging with the big blade and the hurting and shoving!" Beast Boy said incredulously.  
  
"I am a...What is that word?" Nigel said. He pointed to the medical equipment, tapping his claws together to try and piece together the wording.  
  
"A doctor?" Beast Boy asked, opening his palm and waving it in a circular wrist motion in the gesture that people did when they were trying to help people remember things.  
  
"Yes! I am a doctor! I heal wounds!" He yelled, wilding gesturing his arms in realization, but that caused him to get a head rush, and he coiled back and held his head. "The point is, I do not wish to fight Starfire again, because I am sick of that war and of fighting in itself, and I want to stop... Plus she could probably decimate me..."  
  
"I dunno. You held your own pretty well." Cyborg replied.  
  
"Really? I had been trying to improve my punches, but I draw back too much." Nigel replied, by now becoming a little more comfortable with the others.  
  
"HEY!" Gar yelled, trying to get some attention. "A few more questions before we finish here, seeing as we will have to keep you here for a few days to figure out what to do with you."  
  
Nigel nodded as they asked away, eventually getting to the two all important questions, probably the most important in Beast Boy's mind. "Okay, scrambled eggs, fried eggs or poached eggs?"  
  
"All of the above." Nigel smiled, a toothy grin that scared Beast Boy a little, but he bravely went on. "Now I have to adapt this question slightly but... Starfire or Raven?" Nigel laughed a little, trying to hide it. Good to know that teenage boys are the same whatever planet you happen to be on.  
  
"Both!"  
  
"Wow..." The pair replied, there was a slight pause as they looked at each other and nodded. "We have to tell our findings to our boss, just stay there." They quickly added before leaving. Young Master Nigel just led back down, his eyes closed lightly.  
  
Humans, such fascinating creatures...  
  
Beast Boy and Cyborg nearly ran right into Savior, who was standing outside the door, his arms crossed and his look the same.  
  
"Oh, hi Noel! Uh...what's up?" Beast Boy, grinning sheepishly. Noel snorted.  
  
"You can ask all the perverted questions you like, but do not use my girlfriend. It makes me unhappy. And you KNOW what happens when I get unhappy."  
  
"You pull out the Shakespeare books and try to out-angst Hamlet?"  
  
The following chase lasted nearly twenty minutes.  
  
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"So we failed?" A man asked as he sat upon the edge of a building, resting, while he bent his knees in a semi crouch position. He was the huge man from the night before. The sleeveless, high collar jacket fluttered in the wind, revealing some baggy, one tone combat pants in a dark green colour tied with a thick belt. He wore no T-shirt, but a thick band going around his middle, almost like another belt, a plain white colour, and the long coat he wore was of a greyish blue. His hair was dark with a black bandana covering most of it. He turned around, holding on to one of the ledges with his large arm to see his partner in crime, holding on for dear life to the side of the building, obviously scared out of her wits. She apparently wasn't very fond of heights.  
  
"N-no, our objective was to attack the Titans, and by..." She looked down and then closed her eyes tightly as her speech sped up. "...Attacking that man we have managed to draw them out and seen what they can do! Can we go down now?" She begged as the larger man laughed.  
  
Her outfit was also fully visible in the daytime, and Beast Boy had seen most of it. What he had missed we can see now during the day. Her colour schemes were purples and blacks with some silvers thrown in. The width of the shoulder pads, which stretched out about a foot and a half each side and were made up of rows of panels, were one of the things he had missed. She also wore a metallic black panel skirt that went around behind the hips and stopped short in the middle of her thigh. She also wore red gloves with gold stripes on them, and floating panels across her arms. She was obviously some form of technological mage. Who did not like heights. Guess she didn't have any levitation spells.  
  
"But he wasn't as simple as we thought, and that cost us... Didn't it?" The man asked, looking back over his shoulder at the terrified young woman.  
  
"N-no, we can attack them properly now we know what they can do." She looked back down again. "Can we PLEASE go now?!"  
  
Again the man laughed.  
  
"Yes we can go. But Sister?" She paused from creeping off the ledge back to the balcony.  
  
"Yes Brother?"  
  
"We are doing the right thing... aren't we?" A confused expression came over his face. There was a pause as he turned back around. "Aren't we?"  
  
"Of course we are little brother, of course we are." She bravely reached out and patted her hand on his broad shoulder. Believe it or not, he was this small woman's younger brother by one year. They had been told they were doing the right thing by a person. They didn't know who this person was, and they didn't know the Titans either, as they were both from out of town. WAY out of town.  
  
But from what they heard, the Titans were scum, real bottom of the barrel kind of cliché scum. And it was their job to stop it.  
  
These two had their own reputation. As vulgar as it sounds, in some places they were known as the sword and the shield of justice, vigilantes outside of even the Justice League. Their names were never said, as no one knew them. But the Titans will, before they meet their end.  
  
Oh they will...  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
Another chapter done... They are not very long but meh, I tried... It seemed a good place to pause for now. So we know a little about the three that we met on that one night, will we find out more about them? Find out soon. And perhaps we will also find out why that girl was out on the ledge despite the fact she clearly DOES NOT LIKE HEIGHTS! Fool... 


	3. Nigel: Staring in to the sun

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr.Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Chapter 3: Staring At the Sun, But Seeing Darkness  
  
---------------------------------  
  
"Oh no you don't! I ain't lettin' no alien beat me!"  
  
Days had passed, nights coming in their wake, fading to morning, and then the day would fall into night again. Robin, the fearless leader of the Titans, still hemmed and hawed about the decision to whether or not Nigel would be allowed to wander around the tower. But it seems Cyborg had taken the liberty...  
  
"You can't beat evolution! I was made to win!" Well, if Cyborg was to decide for himself, that would the case. Reality was different, and at the moment, Nigel was thrashing Cyborg at Grand Turbo Evo-Racer 4, a new title out for the Game-station. And seeing as he had two less fingers on each hand than Cyborg, he was doing very well indeed.  
  
"And the Blacktrinian wins again!" He whooped as they started the next round.  
  
"Hey, I hope you're hungry!" Beast Boy called, joining them.  
  
"Why?" Both asked, getting ready for the next round.  
  
"Because you're about to eat my dust!"  
  
Vic groaned at the terrible pun, while Nigel looked a tad confused. The confusion didn't last, as Nigel went back into the zone as they took off. Beast Boy zoomed to the front, but only marginally, as he skidded a little too far around the corner on a dirt track and Nigel took the lead again. Then they got onto the straight and Cyborg's car was at its best on straight road as he stormed past...and promptly lost it all again on the next corner (that was the problem with speciality). All in all, a very intense round of gaming, as Robin walked past, going towards the kitchen.  
  
"Cy, Nigel, Gar..." The leader said casually as he continued to stroll though.  
  
"Hey Fearless."  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Yo."  
  
Robin had just reached the kitchen when he realized something was off, and it happened to be the person that wasn't supposed to be there. Walking backwards (for no real reason) to get back into position to see, he paused as the white slits his mask made his eyes focused on to the young Blacktrinian.  
  
"And what exactly is he doing outside the holding cell?" Robin asked. An incredulous look came upon his face as the word 'Pause' came across the screen in huge letters, as all three looked behind them via placing the back of their heads on the sofa side.  
  
"Well, would YOU like it if you had no form of entertainment?" Beast Boy asked, tilting his head slightly. Robin raised a brow at the sight.  
  
"We are not running a hotel."  
  
"He isn't dangerous, and besides he helped cure Gar's athlete's foot!" Cyborg called, pointing one large hand at the upturned Beast boy.  
  
"He DID attack us, isn't that reason enough to keep him locked up until we are certain?" Robin said, his arms now crossed, and waiting.  
  
"Perhaps I should go back now. Thanks for letting me have time out." Nigel said, as he smiled lightly and placed down his controller, starting to get up.  
  
"No, you stay there." Cyborg's hand set him back in his seat. "I have a deal for ya Fearless... We will run things your way, but when the announcement of the signing of the treaty tonight happens YOU will let him out. He has no reason to attack us."  
  
"Actually I am quite grateful no matter where I am. I had nowhere to stay until now." Nigel said, looking back to Robin. "I will work if you want me too. I am a very good doctor, for my age anyway, and I'm quite skilled at treating battle wounds and intermediate surgery." He raised a clawed hand and extended it, which might not have been the best gesture: it gave the impression he wanted to perform some "intermediate surgery" right then and there, whether there was a need for it or not.  
  
"We shall see." Robin said, as he walked to the door and opened it. Nigel shrugged at the lack of response to his extended hand and stood up, walking out the door and back down to the cell, being escorted by Robin.  
  
"Don't worry Robin, he thanks you as he was losing anyway." Cyborg called. The young doctor laughed, waving as Savior took Nigel's place back in the lounge.  
  
"Re-writing history are we guys? Come off it, he was whipping you guys, badly. Oh look, history is repeating itself." Noel commented, getting automatic first place.  
  
"Shut up and play." The duo said to him in unison.  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
Outside on the turf under the big T, the mysterious brother and sister stood, looking up.  
  
"So close to the city, why do they let them stay here?" The huge man asked, staring up. Such a tall building, filled with villains the likes of which he had never seen.  
  
"It's because no one had been able to stop them up until now. Even setting foot on this island might be a difficult task for the average hero." His sister replied, walking over towards the junction box where all the power was routed through, and pulled out a gun, which had enchantments all up its sides as she shot the power supply. It didn't damage it like a bullet could, or indeed would, oh no, she had better tricks then that. Instead, it...charmed the power supply to fail. It was a little stupid to place such an important piece of kit on the outside, wasn't it?  
  
Teenagers.  
  
"Are we ready?" The man said. For the sake of convenience, he will now be referred to as Sword, as he cracking his neck.  
  
"I think so." The female (and she will be Shield) commented, placing the enchanted gun back in her shoulder pad. "I'll give you five minutes."  
  
And Sword made his way into and up the tower, each step taking them further and further into the tower. You would think the security systems would have something to say about this, but you would be wrong, as the magic infused junction box outside shut the power off on whatever floor he was on.  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
"Oh you are SO going down Savior!"  
  
The guys were still hard at it, playing videogames, and threatening to win the next round. The scores were tied, and this would prove to everyone who was on top as Savior's car was just about to come across to the finishing line, ever so close...  
  
Tzph.  
  
And the room was dark.  
  
"Err... Guy? What just happened?" Gar asked, slightly relieved at the power outage, but also a little worried.  
  
"Simple, Raven's boitch here never won the race!" Cyborg laughed, pointing at the now angry Noel.  
  
"And I almost... HEY! I am NOT Raven's boitch!" He snapped back, If you're wondering what a "boitch" is, keep in mind they're still making sure that neither Starfire or Nigel were around to pick up any bad Earth swearwords. As mentioned, the language is still new, and new people make mistakes. Not a good thing in the hero business. Just imagine the scene, they could be being thanked by the president and then Starfire told him to F-off by mistake....  
  
But their minds were taken quickly from the problems of swearing as the door burst open, flying off its hinges. The massive figure of Sword now stood in the door way, the light behind him.  
  
"Who the hell?!" Cyborg said, even as he instinctively prepped his arm cannon and turned quickly, raising it and firing. He only hit air as Sword quickly dodged and ran forward, but he didn't go far as Shimmer strands blocked his way, shooting from the ground and making him jump back.  
  
"I am the Sword of justice!" He shouted, as he ploughed through the lines of energy, not of them able to get a good grip on him. He tackled Cyborg to the ground with his size and weight alone and raised his arm, but he didn't get far as a Bull-formed Beast Boy rammed him off Cyborg. But he was obviously a lot stronger then it would take to be defeated by that, as he righted himself in time to throw Beast Boy onto his back. More Shimmer strands shot out and lashed at Sword, but he grabbed the strands and threw the white haired man into the wall, sending him smashing through in a storm of wood and plaster. But while Noel was having an unpleasant meeting with the wall, Bear-form Beast Boy had snuck up on Sword and wrapped his heavily muscled upper legs around him, trying to squeeze the living daylights out of him.  
  
Not a bad plan, but something happened that forced Gar off of him. Specifically, it was because Sword's arm size suddenly increased with a jolt, his power going up a little as his skin turned a shade closer to grey.  
  
"Man. You're good!" Cyborg called to the man. He smirked.  
  
"You have a lot of skill yourself, but it is time for me to finish your reign of terror!" He replied, setting himself up to attack again.  
  
"Dude, two things! One) Where do you get your lines from? A box of cereal?" Beast boy asked, walking up to him. This threw Sword off a little, perhaps it was a trick.  
  
"I... err..."  
  
"And two) we don't have a reign of terror! We don't have a reign of anything! We can't even make it rain! Not even in Spain! Mainly on the plain, I hear." He finished. Now Sword looked even MORE confused, and that was good enough for Cyborg, as he reached down and pressed the 'help' button on his hip. Beast Boy continued. "We are the good guys! We help people!"  
  
"Help?" Sword shook his head. "You try and confuse me with lies, but it will not work! I have been told of your acts!" He dashed forward, but he didn't get far as a Starbolt hit him in the back. He fell over, landing awkwardly.  
  
"Ouch. That HAD to hurt. Is that supposed to bend that way?" Gar commented, as the men dashed over to Starfire and Raven.  
  
"Surely this is the wrong way around; the men should be rescuing the women, right?" Savior asked, laying a hand on Raven's shoulder. Raven contemplated giving her boyfriend a dirty look, but in the end she just shrugged and kept her eyes on the giant, who had now gotten to his feet...only to be blasted out the window by a sonic blast.  
  
"CYBORG!" The Titans yelled.  
  
"What?" He asked, as if he had done nothing wrong.  
  
"CY! You did it again dude!" Gar called, waving his arms around. Cyborg just shrugged and rubbed the back of his head.  
  
"I guess I did put a little too much power in that one..." He said, laughing a little. The group sighed as one, except for Savior, who had walked to the window.  
  
"Actually, I don't think you put in enough!" He shouted as he stepped back. The others looked over at him, not sure what he was talking about, before Sword shot back up, now with fierce white eyes and dragon-like wings sprouting from his back. He hovered in front of the window for a moment and then flew through the opening. He landed hard, the floor shaking lightly.  
  
"Such low tactics!" He roared as he charged again. The Titans were still surprised by the transformation and were unprepared for the strike, and that would have been very bad...had not a red blur shot across the room and tackled him down just as he was about to strike.  
  
"Robin?" Star asked, floating a little higher to see what had happened. But it wasn't Robin that had tackled Sword, it was Nigel. The Blacktrinian stood up and growled deeply, even as the Titan leader came into the room on his heels. "Robin!" Star shouted, floating over  
  
"Our guest and I were on our way towards the detention cells when the alarm was sounded. Without a word, he sprinted back up here. I thought there might be trouble..." Robin stated, putting an emphasis on the 'Guest' part, the kind of emphasis you would use for an unwanted house pet, and "trouble", putting forth the idea that Nigel was behind it.  
  
"You are not convinced this was common courtesy, are you." Raven observed, disappointed but not surprised at Robin's mistrust of Nigel. Her eyes were brought back to the fight as Nigel was thrown straight for a wall, smashing through it  
  
"C'mon Robin! He's fighting for us man! What is there not to trust?" Cyborg asked, holding up a fist to enhance his point, as the Blacktrinian once again tackled down Sword. He raised his hand up to slash him, but he was too slow, receiving a monstrous right hook which sent him flying into Savior, knocking them both loopy. Robin stopped his argument and lowered himself, getting ready.  
  
"Titans! G-"  
  
An alarm went off on the wrist of Sword. His time was up.  
  
"Sorry, gotta fly!" Sword called, as he jumped out of another window and started to fly away.  
  
"Aw man, why couldn't he have used one of the already broken windows?" Beast Boy complained, but before anyone could reply Nigel had gotten up and dashed towards the broken window, leaping out as he went for broke to try and grab the attacker.  
  
He nearly had him as well.  
  
"Fool! Stupid fool!" Cyborg shouted, as all the Titans ran to the window as gravity seized Nigel and he vanished from sight. By the time the Titans had arrived he had already hit the water.  
  
"Phew, he's okay. He hit the water, the water broke his fall." Beast Boy said.  
  
"If he landed the right way. Landing the wrong way in water can be worse then landing on concrete." Savior commented. Everyone glared at him. "What! It's the truth!"  
  
Some splashing could now be heard as the Titans looked again. It was Nigel, and he seemed to be fine from the landing...but there was something else wrong. Then Starfire remembered.  
  
"Quickly! We must save him!" She called, pushing past to get out.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Blacktrinians can not swim!" She replied as she, joined Beast Boy quickly flew down as fast as they could, but Nigel had jumped really far out, and he had been so far away that the thrashing was slowing down, and eventually it stopped.  
  
The only thought in Nigel's mind was I'm going to die... I never did so many things...I never even saved the day... His clawed hands stretched up, towards the surface of the water, trying to find a grip, but water provides no grip, and by now everything had started to fade...  
  
Fortunately for him, Fate did not want him to die, just yet, as a hand plunged through the water.  
  
Next thing Nigel remembered was coughing up water on the island and being surrounded by the Titans.  
  
"That was a very foolhardy thing to do. You do realize that, right?" Robin asked, his arms folded and his gaze sharp on to Nigel.  
  
"I didn't..." And that was all as another cough came, "Realize your tower was on an island." He spluttered some more. For his race, falling into water meant certain death for anyone and pretty much everyone, and it felt like he was cheating death just by breathing again, by seeing the grass under him. And it felt wonderful. "Hey... mind if I... join you guys?"  
  
"Depends. Are thick skinned half dragons going to constantly show up on a regular basis, or is that just a seasonal thing?" Noel inquired. Raven hit him on the arm. "OW! It's a point that has to be made!"  
  
"Quiet Savior. Join? You recklessly risked your life for people you didn't know, you acted without thinking to help others almost as a reflex, and you threw yourself out of a tall building to catch an attacker even though you were unable to swim." Robin paused. There were good and bad things in that list, but he would have to add up the details later. "I don't know about joining, but I think we can let you wander around the tower freely now at least."  
  
Nigel smiled. Finally, a place to call home.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
Another chapter done. I hope you are enjoying it, and this PROVES that Nigel is a normal person, who isn't perfect. But now I have to think of a name for him, a super hero type name. See ya in Chapter 4! 


	4. Nigel: A change of pace

Flashing Lights and Sounds

By Jedi-and

Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.

* * *

Chapter 4: Change of Pace

* * *

"And now, the Blacktrinian ruler Trimanion Hollucus approaches the stand." 

A bizarre cobbled together radio spoke in another strange language, a rough, grating language compared to English, as the clawed hand of one of the newest Titans fiddled with it to try and get better reception. It was dark and the moon was pregnantly full as the young man sat on the top of the Titans Tower, staring out into the infinite, thinking of his friends back home. The night was cool and calm, which mirrored his outward appearance, but on the inside, he was tense. Tonight was the night the 100 year war would end. It had taken several more weeks than expected, but it had finally happened.

Tonight, he would listen to history.

The T-Shirt he wore fluttered in the wind, as did his trouser legs, but his eyes never left the fixed position they were set on, on one star in the sky.

"I hear it's tonight." Came a soft voice from behind, and he turned around to see Starfire there, wearing a long nightgown with a robe over it. It was around one AM, and the rest of the Titans had gone to bed. Nigel just nodded as she sat next to him, watching him tune the radio so that the makeshift translator would turn the grating tongue into English.

"The latest statistics on this war are as following. The total cost of this war has been over 5,200,000 Necrons for the Tamaraneans, and over 14,200,000 Necrons for the Royalist Empire of Blacktrinia." This was roughly total to over 50 billion in US dollars.

The Titans, apparently not as sleepy as they might have indicated earlier, joined Starfire and Nigel on the roof, one by one, all in their night clothes, to hear the continuing statistics.

"As of midday today, the total number of soldiers wounded in action is 34 million Tamaranean defence core, 19 million Blacktrinian conquest division, and 2 million Red Star fighters, also known as the Tempest Core. All in all, a grand total of 45 million people were injured merely in the military." Calculating the numbers for innocents might take several decades, but at least whatever number it was would finally stop rising. "The total number of soldiers killed or missing in action at midday today was over 600 million for the Tamaraneans and 550 million for the Blacktrinians, making a total of over onethousand million deaths in all."

"So much reckless hate." Starfire commented, wrapping her robe closer to her body.

"The same casualty count as both our World Wars and the Crusades put together. Terrible…but…speaking from a purely clinical point, not bad for a century long war." Noel said quietly. Starfire looked over at Savior with sudden anger in her eyes.

"Noel, how can you be so callous! Those were my people who were dying! And Nigel's!"

"I know that Kory, but I'm talking from war study and not from emotion. And considering that this was a century long war with two species that have both cracked interstellar travel, and considering the kind of weapons one could potentially develop with that kind of technology, 100 million dead isn't really so bad, specially over the course of 100 years. I was expecting the casualties to be in the billions."

"You are DISAPPOINTED in the low number?"

"NO! Star, I'm not going to explain it to you now, but a very evil Earth man by the name of Josef Stalin put it best. 'A single death is a tragedy. A million, or 100 million, deaths is a statistic.'" Noel quoted.

"It does not matter. It ends today. Today, the war shall end." Nigel said softly.

"Let's hope so." Noel replied.

"Could we have picked a less chilly spot to hear history?" Beast Boy exclaimed as the Titans tried to get comfortable, ready to hear the announcement.

"I don't see why you're so eager. History isn't always that great. I watched the Twin Towers collapse on live TV. If that's witnessing history, I think it royally sucks." Noel said. Raven gave him a whack on the arm. "Ow! Don't blame me, people should know these things!"

"Shut up! Something!" Starfire said.

"The two have signed the agreement, and now, at approximately 33 minutes past the hour, the war that has lasted for 102 years, 2 months, 16 days and 20 hours is finally. Over."

A huge sign of relief came from Nigel as he smiled broadly, tears of joy forming in Starfire's eye as the others chanted and celebrated. Well, expect Noel and Raven, who seemed a tad bit more reserved in their happiness, Raven due to instinct and Noel due to the appearance that he might know something the others didn't. Anyone looking at Titan Tower that evening would have thought that all the others had gone crazy.

"Hacodavin Starfire." Nigel said, bowing slightly towards her. She noticed that he too had a tear in the corner of his eye as well. It's hard to explain what that word means in English. A direct translation is nearly impossible, as there is a lot of culture behind it. If we really must find a translation, it sort of means congratulations and thank-you in the same word, and it was mainly said after a battle. Whatever it meant, it was a good thing to say to someone who had just won or lost, as it showed them respect.

"Hacodavin Nigel." Starfire replied, before Cyborg showed incredible tact and sensitivity and started to make fun of Nigel, who claimed a bug flew into his eye in his defence.

"Now we have a reason to Celebrate!" Robin called, getting a 'hell yeah' from the lads. Except Noel who looked like he wanted to make a point, but in the end, didn't.

"We will make a grand feast!" The young alien girl called, clasping her hands together and floating over to Robin, and then crushing him in a death hug.

"Make?" Raven asked incredulously, raising a brow.

"Yes! I say that for such a copious amount of celebration, we need to have a day long quest for festivity!" The Blacktrinian commented, holding his arms out wide to accentuate his presentation of the idea to the others.

"A day off?" Robin asked, finally getting air back in to his lungs.

"More or less."

"You really think we can do that?" Robin questioned, Starfire resting her chin on his head, with her arms wrapped over his shoulders.

"You really think we SHOULD do that?" Savior commented. Eveyone glared at him. "Then again, this city has police, let them handle something for a change!" he added, sweatdropping. Cyborg and Beast boy did a happy dance at the idea of a day long party.

"Just in case, I vote we take a vote!" Beast Boy called. "All in favour raise your hand." He said quickly, to prevent Robin from opposing the vote idea. Everyone, bar Robin, raised their hands and claws respectively.

"All opposed?"

They all looked at Robin, who shrugged and sighed.

"Alright, but if the cops get anything they can't handle, we drop everything and get over there."

They all nodded. Tomorrow was going to be good.

* * *

As soon as they got up, they realised how big a mistake they had made. 

Starfire and Nigel, along with Beast Boy were up and about already, making a huge breakfast, one so large it made the small frame of Raven cringe a little as they sat down. It was a mix of Human, Tamaranean and Blacktrinian food and treats. Some would send you down Pleasure Lane, while others would literally burn your insides out. There was something for everyone, though Gar had the least to eat as a lot of the Blacktrinian foods had meats in them. Well, all the more for everyone else.

Recovering from the side effects of breakfast, the group headed to Jump City and into the Cinema to watch a film, preferably one with many explosions. Only the three single guys actually paid attention throughout the entire thing, as Starfire and Robin had fallen asleep on each other, a combination of lack of sleep and too much food. Raven, on the other hand, was still feeling a particular side effect of breakfast. Exactly what was unsure, but it had caused her to spend a full ten minutes at a time kissing Noel. He didn't much mind.

Being in full costume gave away a few things, but the cinema was empty anyway, as it had been reserved before breakfast. Nigel, actually managing to out-quirk Starfire, spent the entire time upside down, as it actually made more sense to him that way, somehow. Or something. He's an alien, use your bloody imagination! Anyway, buying out an entire cinema was expensive, but they had saved it several times already so one 'small' favour wouldn't matter too much.

The next stop on the agenda was the activity centre with a videogame arcade, bowling ally, pool table and other activities to keep the Titans very much occupied and entertained. Well, the former anyway, as the latter began to fade when all the kids started to lose their cash in games against Cyborg in the computer fighting games. Then Nigel ended up putting a hole in his shoes AND the floor because of his clawed feet. He was promptly kicked out. It didn't keep though, as he was let in again when Robin, Starfire and Savior explained he was one of the newer Titans. This pretty much secured his placement on the team.

Not without some hassle though.

"Okay then, what's his code name?" The bouncer asked, holding back the alien from entering. They looked at Nigel, who quickly thought of something.

"They call me... uh…Scalpel." He replied, surprisingly convincing for an on the spot title. The others silently groaned at his choice of name, but it would suffice for now. One shouldn't nitpick, but it was a big obvious for a name, seeing he was not only an actual surgeon, but he had claws sharp enough to be blades. Yep, real original.

The bouncer just shrugged and let him back through. Nigel started towards the new bowling lane, at least until he stopped in regards to the other's raised brows.

"I was having difficulties thinking up a good name...what do you earthlings say? Sue me?" He replied bashfully as he sat down for his turn.

"Well, fine, for now, but we have to get you a better name than that..." Cyborg commented. "It just describes…what you are!"

Anyone spot a hypocrite? Yes? No? Let's move on then.

Anyway, after a few rounds (and a few more holes in the floor), the Titans left and made their way over to a small restaurant for lunch. Which they soon left as it happened to be a lunch break for an assemblage of reporters as well. They were followed, of course: reporters seeing costumed metahumans was the equivalent of dumping chum in amongst a group of sharks. So Raven teleported them to a random spot…which happened to be a carnival. Convenient. Their entrance turned a few heads, but they quickly dispersed and got into the swing of things and started to play lots of games.

"Give me three balls my good man!" Beast Boy called, holding up three fingers to a man manning a game booth. The man gave them to Gar, and he passed them around, explaining to Nigel, or maybe I should say Scalpel, how to play human festival games.

"So…what must I do with this?" He asked, looking at the ball.

"Throw it, but not too hard now." Cyborg instructed, throwing his own ball at a piece of wood with a hole in it. The hole seemed far too small to go through, but he tried anyway, and failed just the same. "Aw man! Anyway, the trick is to get it in the hole, then you win a prize."

"Yeah, like this." Beast boy turned into a monkey and threw it. With his long reach he thought he could get a better chance of getting it in, but he missed as well.

"I do not want to hit the outside, right 'great teacher'?" Nigel said in a patronizing tone, before he threw it, dead centre and got it through. Or at least that was what he would have done if the ball hadn't gotten stuck in the hole. "Did I win?"

"No, you have to get it through the 'ole to win." The stall owner informed them, scratching his stomach.

"Crooked game." Cyborg muttered as they wandered off. It did not occur to them until several minutes later, but by the time they realized they could have actually busted him and gotten anything they wanted out of him, he was already gone. Only one word came across the lips of the three gents.

"Aww nerts."

Carnies.

Starfire, Robin, Raven and Savior had gone on a ride known as a waltzer. Ever been on one? No? Well, the ride consisted of a disk that rotates, along with chairs that spin. The thing that makes this a strange ride is that the disk goes up in some places and down in others, and as you are going around and spinning, you can not quite distinguish which way you are facing or where you are. It can give you a great feeling of speed, but it could also royally mess up your sense of vertigo and equilibrium. And unfortunately our teen heroes seemed to love it so much they went on it twice in a row. Which meant when they got off they were a little... disorientated.

"Why is the sky spinning?" Savior asked, lying on the ground. After two goes on such a ride, you became pretty perplexed, and your sense of balance wasn't exactly operating at peak capacity either. Balance was determined due to some kind of liquid in your ears, or something, and with that sloshing around all over the place from all the spinning, it forced you to sit or lie down until it fixed itself.

"Alright, I think I'll forgo good manners and allow myself the privilege of being sick." Raven complained, trying to stand up.

And they weren't done. After the world had righted itself, the group promptly engaged in three rounds on the shooting gallery, five bags of candy floss, a ride on the roller coaster, two goes on the test your strength (which Nigel and Starfire aced) and a few goes on a ride called 'The Vert Wheel', which was a spinning disk that places your body parallel to the floor while going in a circle, completely messing around with the idea of centrifugal force. Teenagers. Always such gluttons for punishment.

Once all this self-inflicted torture was done, they left the carnival and headed back for their reservation at the trendiest Karaoke restaurant in the area, 'The Blue Note'. And since it was Japanese, it was house rules, which meant no shoes and kimono's all around.

"Hey, what is that?" Nigel said, pointing to the menu. Noel looked over.

"You don't want to know." He replied.

"I'll have that then."

"Why?" Raven said, raising a brow, in her usual way. She probably exercised that muscle even more then Dwayne Johnson, aka wrestler The Rock.

"I want to know what it is!" He replied quickly, showing off one of his wonderful toothy grins.

"Will they have mustard at this establishment?" Star asked, pulling back the sleeves on her long Kimono.

"No, I don't think so Star." Robin replied. Each of the Titans wore the colour Kimono that seemed to be their colour. Robin in a red Kimono with his tool belt wrapped around the middle, just in case, Starfire and Raven wore a ladies Kimono with the long sleeves and a Butterfly obi, a traditional belt with the bow in the shape of a butterfly. Purple and blue each. Beast Boy wore a green kimono with a white tiger on the back and Cyborg with his grey and blue Kimono. The two newest Titans wore white and black, no prizes to guess who was in which.

"Every establishment should hold mustard!" She replied.

"Mustard is a western invention, this is an eastern style restaurant, They won't have mustard." Raven said, trying to calm the only other girl in the group.

"What is must-hard?" Scalpel asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Only the most wonderful, and delicious drink in the world!"

The others facevaulted. There would have been the usual discussion on the fact that mustard was a condiment, not a drink, but the waitress came back and asked for their orders. Nigel didn't go for that thing he didn't want to know about, and instead went for a thing called an octopus (though lord knew what THAT was). The others went for sushi. Robin allowed them to have ONE glass of a drink called sake _Sack-e_ each, as it had alcohol in it, and after all, none of them were quite of drinking age just yet.

But it must have had an effect on them anyway, as after the meal it was time for the Karaoke lounge to turn on. Each group got their own lounge, with their own screen and microphone. First up, and showing that while the others couldn't hold their liquor, they couldn't most of all, it was the ever popular duo Cy and BB! Who promptly ruined the Bare-Naked ladies song 'One Week' but the others endured it for one reason: to hear Real Emotion, from Final Fantasy X-2, sung by Kory.

She stepped up to the microphone and started, staying quite static and only swaying a little. Unfortunately we can't seem to hear her. That is what happens when the fourth wall is outside the window. We could see that by this time the chorus came, the princess had started to dance around the stage a little, getting cheers from the unattached boys while doing so, her movements where fluid like water, her arms moving as quick as if she was in a fight, but as delicately as if she was catching a flower. Starfire started to really get into it now, with full on dance steps. Having watched the boys play the game for hours on end, she had managed to catch the dance steps on the game's movie player, and so she learned them just in case of this eventuality. She even attracting attention from the other rooms, but we still can't hear her. Why? Our camera man forgot the sound boom, how should I know? The song came to a close and she finished with a power pose. One so powerful she accidentally shot a hole in the ceiling. Damn emotion-linked Starbolts. Real Emotion-linked Starbolts! Ha ha ha…ok, let's move on.

The Titans, and the people who had been drawn by Starfire all applauded happily, ignoring the new ventilation. She bowed and sat down with a blush on her face as the audience dispersed back to their own rooms.

"You've been practicing, haven't you?" Raven asked, somewhat amused but trying her hardest not to show it. A small nod came from Starfire as the rest laughed a little, paid the bill, and left.

After a few hours at a night club, and many slaps later (I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count on who got THOSE), the Titans arrived back at the tower, tired but happy, as they seated themselves down and relaxed. Starfire and Robin quickly retire to their bedroom, while Raven and Savior dozed off in a big chair. Beast Boy and Cyborg (with red marks on their faces, told ya) had a few rounds on the Game Station. Finally, Nigel searched through the cupboards trying to find some of the thing Starfire had called Must-Hard.

All in all, today was a good day, but tomorrow...

Oh, I don't have a good feeling about tomorrow...

* * *

There ya go, just a fun little bit and finally, FINALLY a Super-Hero name for Nigel. I hope you liked it. As for the song it was either that or BNL's One Week, and I flipped a coin. shrugs Sorry!


	5. Mislead: Hero of a wrong cause

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr.Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
Authors note: I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank LM and Bobcat for helping me with my fics and stuff. With out them, this would be a drab and cliché filled thing indeed...  
  
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Chapter 5: Hero of the Wrong Cause  
  
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"Good morning all!" Nigel called, coming out of his under furbished room and into the dining hall. The others were already there, looking a little groggy from lack of, or at least a rather uncomfortable, sleep.  
  
"Why are you so perky this morning?" Cyborg asked, pouring a large amount of coffee for himself as Beast Boy slept in the chair next to him.  
  
"I'm always like this. You should know that by now..." Nigel replied. He folded his arms and sat down, waiting for this morning's breakfast. Which was scrambled eggs on toast.  
  
"Chicken embryos again?" Starfire asked, as she lightly poked it before pushing it away.  
  
"Its eggs Star." Robin corrected (again). "Not hungry?"  
  
"Not really." She said, as she shrugged and just stared at the plate. Her actions were mirrored by everyone, who where eating slowly or not eating at all.  
  
"By Izuna, you all act like someone has died." Nigel commented as Savior sat down with his breakfest, as he was the one making it that day.  
  
"You act like nothing happened."  
  
"When something like this happens on my world, we celebrate for five days." Nigel stated matter-of-factly as he held up his plate. "It's strange, this kind of meal on my planet is the signalling of a death. Here, it is the morning meal." He placed the eggs and toast down again. "And on the subject of strange foods, I really would like to eat that dried blood substance you humans eat."  
  
"Black pudding." Savior corrected, who seemed to be immune to the other's troubles as he heartily ate his breakfast. Beast Boy, now awake, gave a look of disgust. Savior may have been the most awake, but at the mention of Black Pudding, Garfield Logan turned into the most alert person on the planet at this or any time of day.  
  
"How can you eat that stuff?!? It's BLOOD!"  
  
"So?" The doctor replied, placing some toast in his mouth. Star looked around a little, and then suddenly and quickly jumped from her seat and left, running, or rather flying, out of the room. There was silence for a moment or two.  
  
"Did I say something wrong?" Nigel asked, looking around at the other, tired, faces in the room.  
  
"I don't think so..." Raven said, speaking for the first time that morning, as she walked in from the direction which Starfire had just departed. Robin started to get up before he was stopped by Savior.  
  
"Perhaps our resident GP should check her out? It might have been something she ate, or maybe some illness she has. Remember the time with the flu?" He said. Everyone nodded, not really wanting to remember that incident. Noel looked over to Nigel whose confused expression looked back at him. Oh right. He wasn't here. Nigel realized what he had to do and left, grabbing his hat on the way.  
  
Starfire was actually waiting for him when he arrived at the lab; she was trying to work out what some of the drugs were and see what they did.  
  
"Can I help you?" Nigel asked, brushing the crumbs from his suit. She spun around in surprise.  
  
"Scalpel! Er, Nigel! I was just... I mean I was..." Starfire stammered. Walking over quickly, the Blacktrinian took the vials, chemicals and various drugs from her hands and placed them in their proper places. There was silence for a moment or two.  
  
"Would you like me to check your health?" He asked quietly.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Would you like me to check for anything in particular?" His tone was soft and gentle; more so than any other Blacktrinian could even think of managing.  
  
"No, but please keep this discreet. I do not wish for Robin or any of the others to discover whatever is wrong." She replied in a quiet tone.  
  
"Very well, if you would be so kind as to sit on the bed of examination." Nigel replied, as he gestured to the blue bed up against the wall. Starfire obliged.  
  
The whole thing took roughly half an hour. Basic checks, breathing checks, in-depth views, blood samples, the whole nine yards. But nothing was found.  
  
"I wish to know, what does my blood tell you?" She asked, pointing to the vial that Nigel had placed in the medical fridge. Turning back to the Tamaranean princess, he thought for a moment and then shrugged.  
  
"Can't tell you straight up. I will have to do some tests. They should only take a few minutes, but I have a feeling about something...though I am not sure of what exactly." He said, as he stroked his chin lightly with one of his talons, he had had more of an inkling then he let on, and he was currently thinking and hoping it wasn't what he thought it was.  
  
Before he could ponder any more on the subject though, the alarm went off, and the two had to rush upstairs to the computer room.  
  
-------------------------  
  
"What's up?" Cyborg asked as Robin scanned through the information.  
  
"Looks like our 'friend' from before has reappeared." He replied, the keyboard clicking away as he searched. Pictures of the man in the long coat started coming up.  
  
"That nutcase who called himself the 'Sword of Justice'?" Beast Boy asked, letting out a sigh of pure exhaustion. What the heck was his malfunction? They didn't know what he wanted the first time, let alone this time.  
  
"This time he's not alone though."  
  
Another image came up, of a woman with some strange sort of handgun and large shoulder pads. This was just as Starfire and Scalpel came in, and the darkened image of both of them suddenly struck a chord of memory in Nigel.  
  
"Hey! They where the ones who attacked me!" He pointed, tapping on the screen.  
  
"Don't touch." Robin said, batting the doctor's hand away.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"But I wonder...why has he waited so long to re-appear?" Robin asked, as it had been a few weeks since his first emergence.  
  
"Probably licking his wounds from the beating we gave him!" Gar said triumphantly, flexing his "muscles".  
  
"Not likely." Raven said, once again knocking Beast Boy down a peg. "He was probably waiting for us to be tired from the day we had yesterday before he struck again. And it worked. We're tired, lethargic..." she paused and felt her groggy stomach. "And still full of food from the night before." She regretted her actions now. Her small frame couldn't handle all the food they had eaten yesterday. "We're an easy target."  
  
"Not really." Nigel, said, putting his hands behind his head and smiling his trademark grin. "I am used to eating that amount of food, and therefore I am not an 'easy target'."  
  
"And we kicked YOUR butt..." Beast Boy replied, also attempting to knock someone down a peg. He failed.  
  
"Cyborg snuck up behind me." Nigel said, glancing at the green teen, unimpressed.  
  
"In any case, he's waiting for us." Robin said, as he called their attention back to the screen. Sword held up a sign saying. 'Come and get me Titans'.  
  
"Trap?" Cy asked, prepping his cannon.  
  
"Yep."  
  
"A big fight?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"I wouldn't have it any other way." He finished as they all left, in their own ways, or sponging off another people's way to get there.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
"You think they'll come?" Sword asked his sister, whose red eyes were scanning the horizon for their impending foes while they stood on the docks.  
  
"How would I know? You where the one who asked them here." She spat back at him, obviously angered.  
  
"Are you still angry with me?" He asked, looking back at her with a slight smile on his face.  
  
"You ruined our Five Minute Rule!" She snapped, placing her hands on her hips. The Five Minute Rule was where one of them would rush in, fight until they won, and then rush out, all in less than five minutes. The attempted attack on the Titans saw the first time this rule had failed, and it angered her greatly.  
  
"There were...complications." He responded quiet, not wanting to speak out loud he continued to watch the sea.  
  
"...Very well." She knew he didn't want to speak and left it at that. This time, they would not fail.  
  
"Here they come." She said quietly, preparing the enchanted gun she had pulled from her shoulder pad. Making it to land, the Titans looked up and saw the pair. Robin gave his default command.  
  
"Titans! Go!"  
  
And so they did. Nigel and Noel taking the lead, Starfire and Raven backing them up with Robin and the duo of Cyborg and Beast Boy at the back. But Scalpel was downed quickly with a shot from the enchanted gun, rendering him in a state of pain that rivalled Noel's when his Shimmer got cut. His race were wonderful hand-to-hand combatants, but they were weak against projectile weapons, as they left him nearly useless and wracked with pain.  
  
Doing a double take at this sudden defeat, Savior launched the Shimmer from his hand, only to have it grabbed and the white-garbed Titan thrown from the battlefield with a curse. Starfire started up with her Starbolts, but the nausea in her stomach threw her off, and this cost her as she became distracted and was left wide open to an attack from their enemy's magic handgun, which was taken full advantage of, as it charged and shot her. But this wasn't the same projectile. This one made magic rings form around the target, forcing Starfire's hands to her sides, and she fell. Robin caught his other half and swung away, placing her down in a safe place as he tried with all his might to pry off the bands.  
  
Cyborg had gotten into a hand-to-hand fight with Sword, and they were deadlocked until Sword shoulder barged Cyborg into a wall, making it crack and crumble a little. The grey skinned man drew back his hand for what looked like a hell of a punch, but Nigel and Beast Boy had other plans as Nigel snapped the arm out into Sword's side, and Beast Boy, as a gorilla, slammed into Sword's elbow, forcing it the wrong way. This was the opening Cyborg was looking for, and he rammed Sword back and out of the way. Shows that teamwork can pull it off after all.  
  
On the top of one of the harbour buildings, Raven was throwing everything she could find at the sister of Sword. It wasn't working, as she blocked them with some form of magic screen.  
  
"You wouldn't be called Shield by any chance would you?" Raven asked. The woman shrugged and lowered the wall.  
  
"That's what Sword likes to think."  
  
"You're a mage?" Raven asked, hoping she didn't find a copy of herself in this foe.  
  
"Not exactly," She stated and raised the gun again. Its full magical power had been charged, as some form of lettering or characters circled it and the weapon started to glow at the barrel. The enchantments moved out and formed into a new barrel in front of it. "I can charm objects, giving them magical properties and I can create shield, but that's about it."  
  
So it wasn't quite a copy. Unlike Shield, Raven could create barriers, move objects, read minds and do anything she saw fit with her powers, but giving a weapon magical properties... now that's a strange one. And she wouldn't have to wait long to find out the full effects of it, as a blast of dark magical power came from the barrel and slammed into Raven full force, knocking her off the edge.  
  
Luckily Savior was there to break her fall, and they shot back up, Noel dropping Raven off and then swinging over to Shield. With a hand signal, they attacked, wrapping her up with the Shimmer while Raven started to pelt her with random objects.  
  
"Argh! No wonder my brother couldn't beat you on his own!"  
  
Speaking of her brother, he had his hands full with the three single gents who were doing their best impression of a three man tag team from the WWE. Nigel swung around a post and slammed his feet into the chest of Sword, knocking him back, as Cyborg jumped into the air and elbow slammed him. Beast Boy slammed onto Cyborg in what was known as a frog splash, putting even more weight on the torso of Sword.  
  
But, showing an incredible amount of strength, Sword bench pressed Cyborg and Beast Boy off and stood up. Scalpel tried a Blacktrinian falkla kick, which was much like a roundhouse kick with the pointed toes going for the opponents head. It didn't work, as he was caught in mid-air, and then to add injury to more injury, was used as a bat to knock Cyborg and Beast Boy away. Finishing the swing, Sword threw Nigel towards the water's edge.  
  
Fortunately, he didn't land IN the water. He landed hard, on the concrete, his head over the edge so he could see the water, but wasn't actually touching it. But to him, that was far preferable, and he rolled over on to his back and thanked his lucky stars. Quite literally: stars were dancing before his eyes.  
  
"Too close, far too close. Thank you star of faith. And all your pretty coloured friends" Nigel babbled. It passed, and he quickly got back up and ran back to the fray.  
  
Starfire and Robin had finally gotten back into the swing of things as Robin went for Sword and Starfire went after Shield. Shield had gotten out of the 'hug' that Savior had had her in, and was now firing off more magic rounds that cut straight through any of the barriers that Raven put up to defend herself as if they were tissue paper. Savior lashed out at the red- eyed girl, forcing her back...into an area that still had people in it. Not the best move, and the battle escalated even further, as Raven now had more ammunition to throw. Combined with Starfire's barrage, Shield's barriers that protected her beforehand couldn't withstand it: the onslaught of objects, Shimmer strands and Starbolts threw her back into an industrial chimney. That started to topple. While there were still people under it. Savior hissed and willed the chimney to stabilize. It didn't. Bloody hell.  
  
"The people!" Starfire called, trying to rush to the rescue...only to have Raven try to stop her.  
  
"Even if you got there in time you'll never be able to hold the weight!" She shouted after the Tamaranan girl. But it was too late: she was under the pillar and it was far too heavy to be stopped even by Savior or Raven's abilities. It must have been over a dozen tons of brick at least! And so it toppled towards the top of the building...  
  
Until some sort of purple light appeared at its base, encasing everyone and propping up the pillar. And the source of this energy? Starfire looked around to see Shield holding up her hands, sweat forming on her brow as she tried to keep the monumental weight of this tower of bricks up.  
  
"Aha! I knew she would save herself!" Savior called, getting in closer.  
  
"No, she isn't." Raven said. She had noticed that if she just wanted to save herself, why create a barrier that protected everyone? Why not just a bubble around herself, with more shielding? 'She must be trying to save the others as well' Raven thought, going down and trying to save some of the people. But the shield seemed to be one-way: people could come out, but no one could go in.  
  
"MYTH! HELP ME!" Shield shouted at the top of her lungs. No one knew who Myth was (well, not in THIS story anyway), but they hoped that whoever it was he/she got there soon: the glowing symbols on Shield's armour was becoming erratic, flashing as she fell down to one knee, sweat now pouring from her brow as the tower fell a little more.  
  
The ears of Sword, Nigel and Gar pricked up a little at the voice. Sword turned to face its direction, the battle pausing with Robin in mid throw and Cyborg aiming.  
  
"Sister!" He shouted, as he made his way full speed to the sound, followed closely by Beast Boy and Scalpel. The other two men looked at each other and shrugged, following as well. Soon enough though, they found out what was happening. Starfire was ferrying people out of the barrier area via waving her arms and pointing, since she couldn't carry everyone out by herself. Raven and Savior were trying to support the pillar, or at least keeping a bit of the weight so Shield's barrier held for a little while longer. Sword ploughed through the edge of the shield to help, and then to some surprise, so did Beast boy, but when Nigel tried the Blacktrinian just seemed to bounce off the surface and skid back across the floor, tripping up Robin and Cyborg.  
  
"Watch where yer going!" Cyborg shouted from the pile.  
  
"I wasn't expecting to bounce!" Nigel yelled in retaliation, eventually getting out from under the pile. Sword, who was now obviously Myth, had sprouted his dragon wings as he did before and started to hold the tower up with his hands, while Beast Boy checked the young woman. By now she looked nearly dead, so exhausted she was practically falling over. Beast Boy waved his hand in front of her face, to make sure she was still there. She looked up at him, her bright red eyes full of pain. It was clear she couldn't hold on much more.  
  
"Come on! You're doing great! Just hang in there!" He encouraged as he ran forward, transforming into a T-rex and helping prop up the tower with his massive head. Shield smiled to herself, but she was all but gone, the symbols flashing wildly, like a candle flickering just before the wind blew it out... And then they were no longer there at all, and she fainted, bringing down the shield with her. Savior and Raven suddenly were jolted forward, having to support the majority of the weight now. And it wasn't enough, not even with the help of the others: the tower was going to fall and probably kill Starfire, Beast Boy and Shield. And there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it, as the top part started to break apart. A rain of brick pummelled the Titans, instinctively causing them to rear back, and with that the tower collapsed, crashing down on everything below it. An explosion of bricks occurred as they hit the floor, shattering and breaking. When the dust settled, there was nothing but ruin.  
  
"STARFIRE!" Robin shouted at the top of his voice, rushing over to the bricks and searching through them.  
  
"Robin!" Came a response. But it wasn't from the bricks, but from his right, and then Starfire was flying over and grabbing Robin in a death grip.  
  
"Air Star! Air!" He begged, waving his arms around as much as possible. She blushed and let go. "How did you escape? I thought the bricks had you!"  
  
Beast Boy popped up as well, holding the unconscious Shield in his arms as he walked forward, covered in dust but besides that fine. "Beast Boy! You also survived!?"  
  
"Don't sound so surprised!" He laughed. "I now owe Scalpel big time!" Then something occurred to him, an idea he didn't like the sound of. "Where is he, anyway?"  
  
"He came towards us at a swift pace, grabbed us and pushed us away from the falling structure." Starfire told Robin, looking around the wreckage site.  
  
"But if he did that...ah bloody hell..." Savior said, as he looked at the rubble. Nigel was still underneath the ruined chimney and the others' eyes went wide, as they began to frantically search.  
  
By the way, what Nigel had decided to do was to get Cyborg to shoot him in the back with the sonic cannon, sending him under the tower so he could grab everyone and throw them out. He had hoped to make it as well, but now it looked like he didn't.  
  
The search continued as Beast Boy cradled the unconscious Shield. There was something about her that struck him: he didn't know what it was but it was definitely there. But...  
  
His thoughts were broken by the shouts as Cyborg found Scalpel, half buried in rubble but still breathing. They continued to search a little for Sword, but all they found was a hole leading in to a sewer pipe.  
  
Somehow, that seemed enough. And they had a feeling Sword would be showing up again.  
  
Back at Titan Tower, once Scalpel was awake again and able to move as best he could, he wandered out of the lab with the results of the test (abet with a limp. A several ton tower hit him in the legs after all...)  
  
Starfire was in the office, fiddling with the buttons on her shirt (She did have other clothes you know, just not many). The doctor made his grand entrance and limped over to the big chair behind the desk.  
  
"What did you find? Please tell me as I am anxious to know."  
  
Nigel sat down (painfully I might add) with the results.  
  
"I don't know how I can really tell you this...but..."  
  
"Tell me! What is wrong with me?"  
  
"Kory..." He paused and sighed." You're... err..."  
  
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Dum-dum-DUMMMM~~~~  
  
A slight cliff hanger there. Will the young woman do something drastic to the serious news? Or will she deal with it sensibly... You know what? I have no idea myself... What could the serious news be I wonder? 


	6. Mislead: Why is Always a Needed Question

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr.Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
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Chapter 6: Why...is Always a Needed Question...  
  
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A week had passed since the eventful day with the falling industrial chimney, and Kory Anders' had completely changed. Her confidence had seemingly dwindled to nothingness, her eating habits had been completely changed (she no longer even ate with the others) and she had moved back into her own room rather than sharing Robin's.  
  
A very strange and abrupt change. And Robin blamed Nigel completely for it. As irrational as it sounds, but think about it from his point of view. He blamed Nigel because ever since she had come out of his consulting room, she was different. The others thought so as well: whatever she had heard, it had made an impact. But separated from the farther distances then Robin, they could see the reality: it wasn't the doctor's fault. He was just the messenger.  
  
Which didn't stop Robin from cocking a metaphorical gun every time he saw the alien.  
  
"Kory?" Robin said, as he knocked on Starfire's door, a tray of hot food in his hands.  
  
"Yes?" She responded, not opening the door.  
  
"Can I come in?"  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"No, I'm... I'm not decent." She replied quickly, coming closer to the door. It was a lie, but she had to. She would normally never lie, but she had to this time.  
  
But...one might suppose technically it wasn't a lie, because in her mind she wasn't decent, and may never be again.  
  
In her mind. Which can be greater then any part of reality.  
  
"Oh, okay. Well I brought you some food, and some mustard as well." He said, placing the tray down in front of the door, not sure what else to do. "I hope you come out soon." He finished and walked away, his head hung low. Kory slowly opened the door, grabbed the food and slammed the door quickly.  
  
Nigel made his way to the medical bay, leafing through several papers and records as he walked, not noticing the evil glare Robin had given him as he passed. The young woman known as Shield was still unconscious from all the energy she had expended a week ago. When he got there, Beast Boy was already waiting. Indeed, it was almost as if he had never left her side. His face had a look that could only be described as a man in full thought, his brow furrowed and his lips pressed tightly together. A sight indeed: where is that camera we need to capture this rare moment for posterity?  
  
"Anything on your mind Gar?" Nigel asked, placing the papers down and checking Shield's vitals, much like Starfire had done with him while he was unconscious, but since Nigel actually had medical training his was considerably more in-depth.  
  
"Huh? Oh, sorry. I'm just trying to work out something." Beast Boy said. Trying to work out what it was about her that stuck him so actually, but he couldn't seem to come to any sort of conclusion. It was mind boggling.  
  
"Do I sense a little bit of animal magnetism here?" Nigel joked, walking back over and sitting next to Beast Boy. Beast Boy looked up, raising a brow, and then he looked back, a slight blush on his cheeks.  
  
"I don't know, but I want to find out whatever it is that's making me feel this way."  
  
There was a pause before Nigel leaned towards him, an semi-amused expression on his face.  
  
"You ARE serious, are you not?" He asked, sounding surprised. These words seemed to trigger a new emotion in Beast Boy, or more accurately, a whole new set of emotions. He jumped up and walked over to a window and looked out on the morning sun, or at least he would have been looking at it if it wasn't on the other side of the tower. Damn Green Berets movie!  
  
"Yes I'm serious!" He yelled, before shrugging. "It's those eyes! I haven't been able to get them out of my head ever since I saw them the first time, on the night they attacked you!" He said, placing his hands on his hips as he swivelled around on one heel, coming to a full stop after he had turned 180 degrees. "I don't understand it myself, but whatever it is...perhaps... I don't know, maybe she feels the same way?" He said, shrugging.  
  
"I did not realise you were such a romantic." Nigel said, honestly surprised at this new side of his friend. He had never seen it before. He leaned on his hand, balancing his arm on his desk as the green-furred teen went on. And on. And on...  
  
"Don't worry. I will not inform Cyborg of your predicament." Nigel laughed, as his companion breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
What a strange day this was going to turn out to be.  
  
A light groan came from the bed as the two lads looked up sharply. The groan turned into a yawn, and then a sigh as the young woman sat up, slightly groggy and confused.  
  
"Morning." Nigel said, walking over, trying to keep his body language non- threatening. Shield recoiled a little, reaching up for where her gun would be, but of course it wasn't there. Neither was the shoulder armour it would usually be kept in.  
  
"You have nothing to worry from me; I just wish to check your health."  
  
"Stay away from me, monster." She growled, backing up on her bed a little.  
  
"Good Lord Shield, he's a doctor, not a monster!" Beast Boy said in his best Bones. Nigel and Shield were united in their confused expression. "Heh. Planetary in-joke. But it's ok, we're the good guys!" Gar added, holding up his hands to try and calm her. It didn't work. Though it didn't seem to fail either, as the comment seemed to leave her with a slightly bemused expression.  
  
"That isn't possible; I'M the good gal here." She said, pointing to herself, as her crimson eyes scanned the expressions of the doctor and the changeling.  
  
Then the lads started to crack up, the realization hitting them like a nitrious oxide grenade.  
  
"Hey! What's so funny?" Shield asked, folding her arms.  
  
"Someone has been telling you little white lies." Gar said, walking up to her and smiling.  
  
"Little white lies, or big black truths?" She asked, focusing on the green face in front of her, which soon started to turn a little red at the edges. Nigel, starting to notice this particular turn of events, excused himself quickly and quietly. Surprisingly quietly, as he had metal claws and it was a marble floor.  
  
"Well, WE are super heroes!" He protested, which elicited a laugh from Shield, but her feelings towards this group she was facing made her kill it as soon as possible.  
  
"Look, seriously, we are CRIME FIGHTERS. Ask anyone with half a brain and they'll tell you that we are the Teen Titans, a group of teenaged heroes that, despite looking perfect, still have to deal with life and reality."  
  
"How do I know that you are not villains?"  
  
"If we were villains, would we have give you medical attention? Or would we have chained you to a wall and thrown you in a small room as gangrene ate at your wounds?" He asked, holding up the straps on the edge of the table (which had been replaced from Nigel's little stretch). "We didn't even restrain you! Our doctor was strapped down when we first met him!"  
  
She let out another small laugh. In a strange sort of way, it made sense. If they were the tyrants people claimed they were, they WOULD have thrown her in a small dark, dank room, or worse, killed her. Instead she was in a hospital facility, where she had been treated for her injuries.  
  
"Then it ISN'T true..." Shield said. Beast Boy tilted his head. "The Troika said..."  
  
And that was all she got out as she was cut off, and rather abruptly I might add.  
  
"The Troika?! They were the ones who told you we were the bad guys?" He laughed, holding his stomach. "THEY'RE the bad guys! They've been attacking us for no good reason for what seems to be several years now. And now it seems they have enlisted the help of two powerful Metahumans, yourself and your brother Sword..."  
  
"Myth."  
  
This time is was Beast Boy's turn to be interrupted.  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"His name isn't Sword, it's Myth. Sword is his title." She corrected.  
  
"Oh, well, that's good to know." He paused, trying to find where he was again. "Well they seem to have persuaded you and your brother, Myth, to join them in the hopes that you would finally kick our butts, which of course is never going to happen as we too have a new member!" Beast Boy said in one long run sentence, as he again struck a pose.  
  
"The now missing doctor?" She laughed and looked around, unable to find Nigel. Beast Boy did a double take on the situation and sighed.  
  
"I swear, he's more mysterious than Robin, constantly sneaking off like that!"  
  
Shield laughed again.  
  
"I haven't laughed so much in ages." She said. Beast Boy looked at her sceptically. How can someone not laugh? Then he thought of Raven and scratched the previous thought. Catching the look, Shield looked down again.  
  
"I don't really want to talk about it. I just haven't had much to laugh about, that's all." She commented quietly, and lay back down, facing away from him, trying to avoid the subject. Beast Boy tried to think of something to say, anything.  
  
"We couldn't find your brother."  
  
"I know." She replied. Gar looked at her, purely stunned at her remark. How could she KNOW her brother was missing?  
  
"What?"  
  
"I know because my brother wouldn't be hurt by that 'little' tower. First thing he would do would be to find somewhere quiet to heal himself, probably a cool, dark place. The second thing on his agenda would be to go get help to rescue me. I don't think even he is confused enough to try and attack all of you head on again."  
  
"Confused enough?"  
  
"He may be powerful, but he will not understand. More's the pity I suppose, as he won't grasp the lies of others. He's too trusting on his own." She sighed. "Myth, where are you?"  
  
--------------------------------  
  
Clawing his way out the sewer, Myth coughed a little and stood on the banks of some form of underground base, its large doors slammed shut with one word on them where the doors met.  
  
H.I.V.E  
  
Forcing the doors open with pure strength, Myth strolled inside, anger in his eyes, batting away anyone who dared to stand in front of him like they were flies. He eventually found another set of large doors, but this one had 'the administrator' on the front. Just another obstacle to him though.  
  
He knocked twice. No reply, so there was only one thing for him to do, and that one thing was to kick the door down.  
  
"You can't barge in here!" The principal shouted, standing up from her chair as Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth, self titled the Troika, turned around, their faces shocked at the sudden sight of the soaked and obviously angry young man as he walked through the room towards the previously flawless desk. Previously because he promptly dripped water on it.  
  
"Phew! What have you been swimming in?" Jinx asked, wafting the smell away from her nose with her hand. He ignored her idle talk.  
  
"My sister was captured. I will be going to rescue her, just so you know." There was a pause, as if they didn't understand. "Can the Troika help me?" He asked with a sigh. He was starting to get the impression that these were the laziest super heroes he had ever seen.  
  
"And where would they be going?" The principal asked  
  
"Titan Tower." He replied, standing tall with his arms folded. There were murmurs and groans from the rest of his 'team' as he looked around, a bewildered expression on his face.  
  
"With al due respect, we've tried that a few times. They've modified their defences each time. Now Titan Tower is a nigh- impenetrable strong hold. Virtually no one can get in." The principal replied calmly, sitting back down.  
  
"I got in." He retorted. "So what is the problem?"  
  
"Well it's just those snots have all these sensors! And no matter how wonderful I am at disabling them, they will know." Gizmo said, raising himself up with his little boosters. Myth's patience was wearing thin: The Troika were not the best actors and they were starting to turn into their true selves.  
  
"We are going. And THAT is the bottom line." Myth retorted, grabbing all of them by their respective collars.  
  
"Hey Stone Cold! Watch the treads!"  
  
---------------------------------------  
  
"Hey Robin, listen to this." Noel read from a paper while Cyborg tried desperately to find the remote for the TV: he wanted to play games. And when I mean desperate, I MEAN desperate. Not one thing was in the place it had been in before, and no sooner had it settled into its new place then it was moved yet again to the place it had been before, and if the ever elusive remote was under an item it was moved too.  
  
A VERY complicated procedure.  
  
"Listen to what?" Robin asked, as he leaned over the strategist's shoulder.  
  
"A new experimental android escaped yesterday from a research lab in Gotham City. Scientist say they were baffled at the sudden disappearance of their new experimental humanoid Artificial Intelligence and have started a coast line search, thinking it may have escaped through the water works. The AI is distinguished by its strange skin colouring, serious look and 'Tim Burton' style dress sense: Cartoon gothic or Halloween-esque clothing with lots of black and white stripes. 'It is very important that we find this specimen' says a researcher at Wayne corps, 'It may be the next big advance in crime fighting'."  
  
"Who is Tim Burton?" Robin asked, standing up a little from his crouched position.  
  
"A movie director. But he used to be in the fashion field, doing lots of stripped suits and dark ideas." Cyborg responded, from under the sofa. "But anyway, why would they be building a robot? WE are the next best thing in crime fighting. Now, HAS ANYONE SEEN THE BLOODY..."  
  
Raven walked through the room, picked up the remote, passed it over and walked back out. Cyborg looked at his palm for a moment or two, trying to work out what just happened. What he had tried for half an hour, unsuccessfully, Raven did in less than five seconds.  
  
"It's a woman thing." Noel replied from behind the paper. Quietly, and he hoped for dear life that it was quiet enough. The last thing he needed was for Raven to rip his 'personals' off while making out. "Anyway, they said that it's imperative for it to be found. All police are on the look out."  
  
"Are we sure it escaped? It wasn't stolen?"  
  
"It doesn't say exactly, but by the sound of the article, it seemed it just got up and walked off. It was an Android after all."  
  
This seemed to cause Cyborg to go into a day dream. Noel shook his head and passed over the paper to their leader.  
  
"Well, if we see it, I'll tell Batman." Robin said, walking away to check his e-mail. Soon enough, shouts came from his room. And those shouts were all in the form of "DELETED!"  
  
What a surprise.  
  
Cyborg was about to put 'Tae Kwon Doe Master 4' into the Gamestation, his finger poking through the hole in the disk, but then Raven appeared from the shadows in front of him. Unfortunately, because of Raven's height, Cyborg managed to put the disk into her mouth.  
  
"ACK! Raven!" He shouted and pulled back, the disk still in between her teeth. A grinding noise out came out as Cyborg panicked even more.  
  
"Don't scratch it! It's not mine! It's a rental!" For a gamer, scratching the disk is a bad thing, very bad. Scratching the disk of another person's game was COMPLETELY taboo. It was all explained in a book he had gotten as a present, called 'The book of Jedi – a hand book for gamers'.  
  
Raven wasn't happy with the oral insertion and the following concern for the GAME. To add insult to injury, Raven took the game out of her mouth and licked it before placing it into Cyborg's original target, the Gamestation, turning it on and shorting it out.  
  
"If you have finished, I have something to show you." She said, in her usual tone of voice, before turning to the window. She allowed herself a smile at Cyborg's expression of pure dismay before pointing down to the base of their home.  
  
"What have you seen Hun?" Savior asked, leaning over her to look down. Raven raised her ever vigilant brow.  
  
"I didn't realise we were on pet names yet, but the reason why we should look out is this..." She said, pointing to a group of four who were walking up the bank of the island on which the tower was situated. One grey-skinned one in a long jacket, a goliath, a short boy in a green suit and a girl with bright pink hair.  
  
The Troika plus Myth.  
  
"This could be a problem." He replied.  
  
"Any tactical ideas?"  
  
"None come to mind, but is I may muse, this reminds me of the Charge of the Light Brigade..." A pause. "It was a mistake that ended up in victory. They brigade had inferior numbers and armour, but because of a mistake in their orders they were sent in, and since they believed what they had been told, they completely decimated the opponents." Savior replied, holding his chin.  
  
"That's great. Now maybe you could give us anything that WE could use." Raven stated in a dead tone. Again there was another pause.  
  
"The point is, this seems surprisingly direct for the Troika. They specialise in sneak attacks, so obviously this direct assault is either the work of a madman, or...a genius. We usually have to fight them thinking of an ulterior motive, but this time their strategy seems to be a straight up head on attack. All I can suggest is that we take THEIR old strategy and turn it against them. But then again, they may be expecting that."  
  
A large bang shook the tower. The front gates were being pried open, after someone had made a hole large enough to fit a person's hand though.  
  
"Looks like we have no choice. Find Robin and the others, and get ready. This is going to hurt."  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Oooh big battle time! Let's hope the Titans survive, or at least enough of them do.  
  
Nigel: Shut up, you have it all written down! You won't kill us off! 


	7. Mislead: Incapability to Turn, Helplessn...

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr.Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
Little note: To add a certain air of drama to this chapter, read it while listening to Thrice's album 'Artist in an ambulance'. It helps.   
  
-----------------------------  
  
Chapter 7: Incapability to Turn, Helplessness to Trust.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
The doors couldn't hold out forever. They didn't the first time, and they won't this time.  
  
On one side, trying to break in was the Troika. Powerful, underhanded villains that had had a score to settle with the Titans for an age. Gizmo, a technological wiz kid whose insults may have been unoriginal and immature, but that doesn't matter when you are a master of high-tech technology. Then there is Jinx, quick, skilled and able to use her hex blasts to alter probability of objects and cause the worst possible thing that could happen to them happen, allowing her to destroy anything in her way. Mammoth is next, a behemoth by nature. Slow, and not too bright, but one that packs more punch than a fully loaded tank. And finally their leader per say. Myth, a strong-willed, noble fighter who has been tricked into fighting for the wrong cause, and a dangerous opponent as no one knows the full extent of his power.  
  
And on the other side: our heroes, standing ready for the assault on different levels of the Tower to try and slow them down with whatever ends they have. On the first floor stood their leader, the Teen Wonder Robin AKA Fearless, flanked by Cyborg, half man, half machine and all business and sonic cannon. One quarter up the tower stood the women of the group, Starfire and Raven. One a fiery red head whose alien powers granted her amazing strength, the ability to fly, and the power to throw bolts of destructive energy, while the other, half human and half demon, command enough telekinetic and magical abilities to level a building in three little words. Next, half way up stood two of the newer members of the Titans; Savior, a white haired teen whose possesses as rope-shaped energy ability known as the Shimmer that conforms to his every command, and Scalpel, an alien from a war-like race, whose sharp claws can cut through steel and whose power in battle is unmatched (indeed, Black and White can make a powerful pair). Finally, on the top level stood the last member, Beast Boy, a shape shifter who could turn into any animal you could imagine possible. He was protecting the injured young woman formally known as Shield, able to control technology with magic and form magical barriers.  
  
The sides are assembled. The doors clanged one more time.  
  
It's time.  
  
The door flew off its hinges and flew into the corridor, knocking pictures off the wall and sending the seats they had there for guests tumbling as the Troika ran in, tech blazing and fists raised for battle. The two sides clashed.  
  
"We have come for my sister!" Myth shouted as he rushed in, going past Robin and Cyborg as they started to fight with Mammoth and Gizmo. "And no one is getting in my way!" Unable to do anything lest they get struck from an unprotected side, Robin and Cyborg let him and Jinx past.  
  
Mammoth lunged at Robin, but his quicker agility made things easy for him as he simply leapt over the brute and landed on the other side, prepping freeze discs, but his counter attack was cut short as Mammoth showed amazing speed as he threw his huge hand in an arc towards Robin, smashing him across the corridor before he landed and slid across the ground.  
  
Cyborg had the same problem (abet in an opposite fashion): he was the large one who had to try and knock a little pipsqueak out of the air. Gizmo was trying his hardest to dodge the shots, but that plan went up in smoke when the jet pack he was relying on so much was knocked off his back by one of Cyborg's blasts. An inch closer, it would have been him, so he was lucky, even if he didn't think it as he bounced across the floor, nearly hitting Robin. Dusting himself off, he didn't seem to notice the metallic teen coming up.  
  
Which was a bad idea, as Cyborg charged up and tried to score a field goal by kicking Gizmo as hard as he could into Mammoth, who barely even flinched at the impact of the baby sized person. I'm going to assume Gizmo felt worse about the situation.  
  
"Time to get serious."  
  
----------------------------  
  
Myth and Jinx hit the quarter mark on the Tower elevator, trying to make it all the way to the top. They were beginning to think they might have a free run. How wrong they were, as the elevator abruptly stopped and the doors opened, showing nothing but a dimly lit room.  
  
"A trap!" Jinx yelled, jumping out with her 'boss' before the lift shot downwards, encased in black energy as it slammed back into the first floor.  
  
"They are not stupid Ms Jinx; they KNOW I'm trying to go upwards, and therefore will find any way possible to slow us down." Myth said, stepping forward with caution. "I will take the stairs, though I doubt that will be any easier."  
  
"They are on the other side of the room." Jinx called, pointing forward to the doors that lead to the stairwell. But before they could even get halfway, green Starbolts started to rain down from above, where the sickly looking Starfire floated. Myth dodged as many as possible, making a break for the door.  
  
"You go! I'll handle them!" The pink haired sorceress yelled, firing Hex blasts upwards. She missed completely.  
  
"Please stop right there." Starfire said, floating down, two Starbolts charged up and aimed at the intruder.  
  
"What happened to you? I mean, I know you guys don't ALWAYS look your best but you could have made the effort... Geez." Jinx said, commenting on the appearance of the ill looking Starfire.  
  
"I may be unwell, but I have more than enough strength to defeat you." Starfire replied. Jinx would have retorted if a cup hadn't sped towards her, forcing her to duck, only to be kicked in the face by Starfire, knocking her onto her back. Flipping up, she hex blasted the only visible Titan and missed again completely, hitting a random bit of wall. Starfire, on the other hand, had the trespasser in her sights, and she had a Starbolt ready and waiting with her name on it. She aimed and...  
  
Dashed over to a sink, her hand over her mouth, and was unfortunately, violently sick. Jinx managed to arc an eyebrow while cringing at the same time.  
  
"Well, wasn't expecting THAT." She commented, and aimed at the defenceless Starfire, letting loose with a blast that had enough power to cause some serious damage...but it never hit her, dispersing a few inches behind Starfire, who was trying to recover as quickly as possible.  
  
"What just..." Jinx said, and then a black energy shield, which had covered Starfire, dispersed and a cloaked figure moved out of the shadows.  
  
"There is more than one woman in this tower you can fight with. I suggest you fight with me." Raven spoke, her words cold and sharp.  
  
"Bring it, you fashion disaster."  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
The last of the Troika (one might suppose) who was not engaged in battle, ran up the stairs as fast as humanly possible, only to come across a recently constructed dead end several floors up.  
  
"Figures." Myth said to himself as he tried to move the bits of twisted metal and concrete. It was crude-looking, but it was also sturdy and unmovable. Myth wasn't going to be able to get past this without a lot of hassle or personal injury. He looked across the room next to him and saw the lift. With Raven busy fighting Jinx, he had the chance to use it without it falling back to square one (and floor one at that). And since his sister was in danger, he did the foolish thing and rushed into the dim room to try and reach it. And of course before he got there both the entrance and the exit locked themselves shut with heavy girder like doors.  
  
"Surprise!" Looking left and right he saw both Savior and Scalpel swing towards him on a Shimmer strand that was looped around some pipe work, their feet outstretched to kick him. And they did so, squashing him between their feet before rebounding off for another shot. But this time, Myth didn't stand there like an idiot and dodged out the way, spinning backwards. Realising that they would hit each other, Scalpel let go of the Shimmer and baseball slid under Noel, who swung over on his energy strands and let go on the other side, landing opposite his friend.  
  
"Time to end this delusion!" The Blacktrinian shouted, as he righted himself ( he was still skidding) and leapt up with a full fledged swing with the clawed hand. But this was easily countered, and he was pushed into Noel, who countered with his own Shimmer strand that knocked away Myth.  
  
"This might be harder than I had anticipated." He said, admitting his small miscalculation of the power of the young would be tyrant.  
  
"You have underestimated much when it comes to me!" Myth bellowed as he charged into the pair, tackling Savior down to the ground and smashing his clenched fist across the young man's face. He pulled back for another punch, but the Blacktrinian grabbed his arm and pulled him off his perch on top of Savior and threw him into the nearest wall. The doctor jumped into the air to bring his metal clad claw down onto the head of Myth, but the creature dodged away and kicked the still moving legs out from under Scalpel so that he hit the floor full pelt on his back. Nigel quickly spun back to his feet, and then assumed a sort of fighting position, with one claw down and dug into the ground and the other up high but bending back round so the claw faced the opponent.  
  
This slight distraction was enough, as Savior quickly lashed out with the Shimmer, whipping Myth across the back and straight into a spinning kick performed by his fighting partner. Before the man-mountain could recover, the Shimmer scooped him up and tried to crush him. Myth was a little confused, but he was no fool as he unfurled his wings and used them as leverage to push the glowing strands far enough away to slip out and jump away. But he didn't end up in a very good position: his back was facing the wall. And they were in the medical bay, with only one way in and out.  
  
"Give up?" Savior said, wiping blood from his nose. His irritation was hitting fever pitch, and he'd love to take it out on Myth.  
  
"Never!"  
  
"Didn't think so." And they returned to their battle positions, time for round two.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
"Damn, these guys are getting better!" Cyborg yelled, leaping back from a laser barrage caused by Short and Technologically-Inclined, only to land into a chair provided rather forcefully by Mammoth. Shame it was in mid swing really, because it batted him straight into a wall, where he stayed there for a second or two. "Damn man..."  
  
"Cyborg! You okay?" Robin shouted, throwing a Birderang at Gizmo to stop his onslaught and then another one at Mammoth to move him in a certain direction for a freeze disc that was lying on the floor after it deflected and failed to detonate. There was only one thing for it. Cyborg turned quickly around, his cannon charged as Robin tossed a third Birdarang to force a detonation. It worked, causing a makeshift 'Ice-cold Sonic Boom Attack', freezing the brute Mammoth in the big swing he had wound up for.  
  
"You may have frozen him snot! But I'm still here!" Gizmo shouted, the spider like limbs emerging from his back pack.  
  
"This has gone beyond funny." Robin said into his palm as he wiped his face, a little annoyed at the resilience of their enemy. That, or he was annoyed at the amount of junk Gizmo kept in his back pack. Who was he? The bastard offspring of Mary Poppins and a Popple?  
  
"Now snots, face this!" Gizmo chortled as his whole backpack reshaped itself to unload a missile, and a big one at that! It was approximately twice the size of Gizmo himself. In fact, it completely obscured Gizmo from view.  
  
"Not the 'Over sized missile' gag!" Cyborg protested, getting ready to run away. However, something caught his eye. There wasn't anyone attached to the missile anymore, and this meant that Gizmo had run off to watch it explode from a safer distance. Which also meant he no longer had any control in which way the missile was facing.  
  
Outside the Tower, the little man with a lot of tech, Gizmo, ran across the island and into the boat he and the others had gotten to the island on and pressed the button on his wrist.  
  
"So long crud munchers." He laughed with glee, rubbing his grubby little hands together. "We beat the Titans! Time for a va-ca-tion!" The thought of Barbados or the south of France appealed to him, maybe take a sight seeing tour of Asia, or have a little drink down under with people with funny accents. Never mind that he was underage...  
  
He reached over and pulled the cord to the speed boat motor, but nothing happened. He tried again but this time he heard a sort of whistling sound, becoming deeper and louder. Must be something in the engine...  
  
Too bad he didn't look up.  
  
BOOM.  
  
Screaming, Gizmo hit one of the windows several stories up on Titan Tower, so far up Starfire saw him shoot past.  
  
----------------------------------  
  
"Wasn't that Gizmo?" Jinx asked, walking over to the window. She nodded slightly as they watched what remained of the boat sink.  
  
"That looked extremely expensive." Starfire commented, watching Gizmo slide down the glass with a broken nose before he fell off and hit he ground with a thud. They all cringed slightly: he'd fallen a fair distance.  
  
"He'll be okay. He's small and compact so he can take damage well..." Jinx reassured them, raising her finger to emphasise the point "Anyway, were were we?"  
  
"You had just pushed me away and Raven was chanting." Starfire replied, getting ready again.  
  
"Right." Jinx psyched herself up and pushed Starfire backwards before leaping up and throwing a hex blast at Raven, who had the kitchen sink in her hands. Their battle had moved up a few floors as they were now in the kitchen area, where they might want to make a half decent dinner. If any of them could cook. Wait a minute, what the hell am I talking about?  
  
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" The cloaked woman yelled as she threw the kitchen sink, just so no one could use the line 'You have thrown everything but...'you know the rest. It was a line that just really annoyed the half demon and to make sure it wasn't said, she threw it first! She wasn't a dumb one, our Raven. Alas her attack was seen a mile away and easily dodged, hence the jumping up and the firing of the Hex blasts. Raven managed to throw up a shield, but it wasn't enough to stop the second volley which sent her reeling into a wall. The pink haired intruder would have tried to finish her off, but this wasn't to be as Starfire flew straight into her, not enough to knock her out of a window, but defiantly enough to knock some sense into her and the wind out of her.  
  
"Give up now! You are outnumbered!" Starfire said, her Starbolts aimed and charged.  
  
"Sorry, no can do!" Jinx said, and then she backflipped out THROUGH the window, smashing straight through. She was lucky she didn't get slashed to ribbons, and the two Titan women ran towards the hole, in the hopes that she hadn't done anything stupid. She hadn't. She used the Hex blasts to slow her descent to an eventual stop and ran to where the boat was.  
  
"Oh no, she is escaping." Raven said, amused as Jinx remembered the boat was gone and panicked at the fact. Raven cracked a smile and walked to the stairwell.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
Unfortunately the newer lads weren't fairing as well as the others did: Myth was far more powerful than they had anticipated. But, in one of those thank heavens for small favours factors, Scalpel and Savior was more powerful than he had expected as well.  
  
A roar echoed through the closed room as Nigel jumped up with his glaive extended, only to be smacked across the floor by the open palm of the so called Sword of Justice.  
  
"Doesn't this guy have a weak point?" Savior asked himself as he reformed the Shimmer into a blade and slashed down, attempting to slice Myth's arm off or at least wound him, but unfortunately Myth had other plans as he caught Noel's hand and threw him into a nearby wall.  
  
"It appears that the answer is: no." Nigel said as he stood again. He sounded confident though, and this is because he heard something: footsteps rushing up the stair well. "But it appears we have a little help."  
  
"If you think that, you are wrong." Myth replied. The grey man held up what looked like six cards, each with a symbol on them. "They can only help you if they can enter this room."  
  
Quickly, with a flick of a wrist, he threw all the cards into one of the walls on each side, the floor and the ceiling.  
  
"Of course they won't get this far." He continued, as he strolled over to Nigel and lifted him up. Bad idea, as Scalpel kicked back with his sharp foot, lashing across his aggressor's chest, pushing him back for the follow up kick that knocked away the bandana on Myth's head, revealing two horns, which were growing slowly into a sort of V shape, extending from his brow.  
  
"Oh great, he's pulling a new power out of his ass. Lovely." Savior cursed, as the skintone of Myth shaded another tone darker. Scales started to show up on his arms and face, his eyes glowing white and wings extending and elongating. Noel wasn't just making idle observations though, as he attacked, lashing out with all the strength he had in the Shimmer, cutting deeply into the tough covering on the arms of Myth. But not enough to do any serious damage.  
  
"Dammit, whatever he's turning into, it's got great natural armour. If he changes anymore, I won't be able to cut him." Savior said to Scalpel. "Why didn't you tell me he could turn into a dragon?"  
  
"I do not know this fairy-tale creature you say he has turned into, but nothing is perpetual."  
  
The pair attacked again, relentlessly. "Time for sacrifice participation!" Nigel shouted, ducking under the now claw like hands of Myth and raking his own talons across his chest, locking Myth's large arms to the side. Nigel had Myth trapped, but it wouldn't last forever.  
  
Outside the rest of the Titans had reached the thick doors that the two Titans had used originally to trap Myth in the room.  
  
"Titans! Get ready!" Robin ordered as he pressed the button to open the blast gate. Nothing happened. He tried again with the same failed result. It seems the cards that Myth threw into the doors prevented them from opening with a magical spell, probably placed on them by his sister before they had even known of the Titans.  
  
"Okay! Plan B!" Robin said. He pointed at Raven, who tried to fade into the shadows to get through, but her image flickered a little and materialised exactly were she had left.  
  
"It won't let me though!" she shouted, realising that her boyfriend was on the other side of the door with a near psychotic villain whose full powers remained a mystery.  
  
"Hey don't worry; Scalpel is in there with him. Both of them can take him out." Cyborg said.  
  
They paused.  
  
"I'm sure of it!" Cyborg insisted.  
  
There was another pause as the fate of the two would be decided on the inside without any outside aid. Raven wanted; no she hoped that her Boyfriend would be okay. Yes she had been mean to him some times, such as the time she banned him from touching her because he forgot to check the mail and refuse the entry of Gauntlet into the Titans, and then there was the time when he had 'accidentally' undid her bra in mid battle. He had been grabbing her to keep her from flying into the wall, and it was only against Mumbo but that was beside the point! But now she realized, as people tend to do in these situations, what he really meant to her, and the thought of losing him did not appeal to her at all. Not one bit.  
  
While the Blacktrinian held on for dear life to his opponent, Savior debated what to do. He could attack, but that might weaken the hold Nigel had on Myth and put him in danger. He could wait for the others but then Myth might break free before then. Or he could...no, not that. He was in quite a dilemma.  
  
"This is the part where the knight slays the dragon! Run him through with the Shimmer!" Nigel shouted from behind, hoping that someone did something soon, as he was losing his grip.  
  
"But if I run him through..." Savior started. Noel had a temper, and he had no problem viciously beating someone who deserved it. But killing was another thing. Even in self-defense, killing crosses a line that Noel did not like to cross. He hadn't even killed his mortal enemy Jack Djinn, aka Asphyxiation, despite the fact that he was irredeemable and deserved it as much as any man. And Myth wasn't anywhere near Jack's level: he was just misunderstood, tricked by the Troika into believing the Titans were the bad guys. But much like the Charge of the Light Brigade was successful because the men didn't know they in reality had little to no chance of winning, Myth could very well mortally injure Nigel because he thought it was what he had to do. And if Noel stood by and did nothing, Nigel could be the one to die...  
  
Was the only way to end this was with death?  
  
But even as Savior pondered, the Shimmer reacted to subconscious thoughts, forming into a long blade at the end of his right arm.  
  
"I know! It's your decision, but I would do something if I were in the place you stand now. Don't you want to see Raven again?" Nigel yelled, redoubling his efforts to restrain the power of his opponent. Nigel wasn't the strongest of his race, quite the opposite in fact, but he tried all the same. The words just spoken floated through Savior's head, like a bad song.  
  
Damn it.  
  
Noel lifted his Shimmer blade and...  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
Oooh, cliff hanger. Please forgive me, battles are not my forte, perhaps I will improve? See you in chapter 8! 


	8. Mislead: Having a Blast

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 8: Having a Blast...  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
SHIIK  
  
"Hey, big brother!"  
  
A young man was sprawled across the plains that rested on the surface of a far away moon. The grass like substance blew in the wind. I'll just call it grass, even if it was purple. His deep blue eyes looked up to see a young girl running towards him, her traditional dress getting tangled here and there with the fast pace she was using to make up the hill side. No, not a dress...some form of priestess robe. And only the kind the highest of religious members in training got to wear.  
  
It is very complex to describe, but we shall try. It consisted of lots of layers, over lapping each other, with scroll-like objects flowing from her shoulders and long hair. A high collar on the outer jacket covered her chin, which was red, while the inner jacket was of a green colour. Her headdress was like a tall hat, with a visor to protect her eyes. It too had many layers. only showing the bottom half of her face and her long hair.  
  
"Sister!" He called back. He is not speaking English, but rather a snarling alien tongue which we have conveniently translated. In comparison, his clothing was simple: just a strange shirt and trousers. And an all too familiar toothy grin coming across his face.  
  
She stopped in front of him, panting. It was a very steep hill after all. He placed a talon-like hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Breath little sister, breath."  
  
She took a few deep breaths and started again.  
  
"Big brother! I did it!" She said, finally managing to compose herself and remove her mage-like hat to reveal long silver hair and soft green eyes. "They have accepted me! I will go to the home world! I'm finally a priestess!" She beamed, almost jumping up and down for joy. Her grin was oddly familiar: it perfectly matched her brother's.  
  
"That's wonderful!" He replied. "We must celebrate! I'll race you to the party!"  
  
Laughing, he sped off down the hill. He was so proud of her, and he wanted to start the party preparations right away.  
  
"No fair! Wait up!" She shouted after him, laughing as she chased him. This was a small moon, orbiting a much larger planet, with a red sky and the previously mentioned purple grass-that-was-not-really-grass-but-we-will- call-it-grass-because-any-attempt-for-you-to-pronounce-its-real-name-would- require-some-major-surgery-on-your-mouth. It may seem a little odd to you, but it was home for the members of the Empire that occupied it.  
  
There was only one large-scale city on the entire planet, and that held the spaceports, dockyards and military barracks for the entire moon. The rest was sea-based towns and farmland, a safe haven for the folk that lived there. This happened to be the home of Nigicalnack Hastionfarlock, also known as Nigel Hastings, a young Blacktrinian man, who was at the time working as an assistant at a local doctor's practice. His sister, whose real name is even worse the HIS, to the point where it cannot be spelt in English, was Kathy Hastings, a teenager and Nigel's younger by a year and a half. The pair lived with their father, who owned a small fishing and farming business in the bay of their village known as Uintoe [Yin-t-ow].  
  
Life was surprisingly peaceful for this off branch of the war-like race known as the Blacktrinians. No one cared for battles here and just wanted to get on with their lives. Most of the people provided food or priests and priestess' for the Royalist Empire instead of soldiers, which was rare. It was very hard to become a member of the cloth when it came to their religion, as you had to be very strong in mind, while most Blacktrinians were stronger in body. But Nigel's sister had done it, and not just that, she had come in the top of her class. Nigel was proud of her for doing it, for her sake, and for his own sorrowful reasons, as he, in the end, could never really amount to anything.  
  
"So, when do you leave?" He asked, waiting for her at the base of the hill before the pair walked into town.  
  
"I leave soon, probably tomorrow or the day after." She laughed. "I never dreamed that I would make it." Placing her hat with the visor on, she walked next to her casually dressed brother.  
  
"Does this mean I will have to provide an heir to our family name?" He joked, notorious for having a terrible track record when it came to women.  
  
"Big brother! You are too much sometimes! And far too hard on yourself." She laughed quietly, taking her time for an answer. "Really. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You can do amazing things."  
  
"Even if I'm not strong enough?"  
  
"Now stop that! What did I just say?" Kathy asked, looking over to him in a tone that indicated that she was the more mature one out of the two, as she became serious for the first time that day.  
  
"You're right, as usual."  
  
The pair came to a small house on the grass lands. Crops were in the fields, and a mid-afternoon meal was on the table. Nigel opened the door and spoke in a proud, yet ringing voice, still in the grating tongue. "Introducing to you all, the new and improved; priestess Hastionfarlock!" He clapped together his claws as she entered, a blush across the visible parts of her cheeks.  
  
"You always know how to make an entrance." Their father said, as he walked over to her and placed one hand on her shoulders. She placed her claw on his forearm, and then they laughed and hugged.  
  
"It's good to see that you made your dreams come true, unlike some, who have no dreams." He looked over to the pale blue haired male by the door.  
  
"I have dreams too! I'm going to save the day at least once!" He said. "But not before I have had some food." Nigel added as he snuck over to the cooking pot and tried to grab a piece.  
  
"Hastionfarlock, Nigicalnack?"  
  
The deep voice came from the door, and a foreboding sense of dread came over the young man as he turned to see a man dressed in full Blacktrinian armour, a thin sword strapped to his back and a clipboard in his hands.  
  
"Can I h-help you?" Nigel asked, walking over slightly.  
  
"By order of the Blacktrinian military, you have been chosen to go to the Great War as a surgeon and medic on the field of battle that has now become Tamaran."  
  
The room fell silent; this time of joy had turned into a time of mourning. There was a high chance that Nigel would never be coming back to their home, but no one dared to fight with the military. In their culture they had more power than the senate, abet not quite as much as the sovereigns. It didn't matter though. For virtually everyone, when the military said jump of a cliff, the answer was which one?  
  
And with that, Nigel left his home world, his family and his life to fight and die for the Empire.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
But he didn't die, at least not yet, abet not for life's lack of trying, as his body slowly gave up the ghost against his far stronger opponent, the spirit willing but the flesh too weak....  
  
And then he found his release, abet in the worst way possible, as Noel finally made his decision and stepped forward, stabbing with his Shimmer blade with a growl of regret. The sword-shaped energy stabbed through his and Myth's body. Savior had decided. In an attempt to stop the mad man from hurting anyone else, and Nigel's willingness, Savior had made the choice to kill.  
  
Poor choice.  
  
It hadn't worked. Myth was still standing, and Nigel was starting to fall, his body sliding off the blade and falling, the blade piercing him all the way through, abet not enough to cut his cape...  
  
Savior pulled the Shimmer blade out and stepped back as Myth turned around, seemingly none the worse for wear.  
  
"Why are you not..." Noel said.  
  
"Dead? You think a dragon can fall by a simple swipe of a sword? A sword as blunt as THAT?" Myth laughed, and then he lunged forward with such speed even Savior couldn't mount a defence. The side of Noel's face was brutally smashed with a hard blow with the back of Myth's hand, sending Noel flying, knocking over a tray of surgical equipment. For Savior, the only favour was that there was little pain: his head struck a metal bar on the side of the hospital bed, rendering him unconscious. And not just because he hit his head hard. At the same time, he also cut his arm on a broken sedative bottle, the liquid instantly entering his bloodstream. A double whammy. Good night Noel.  
  
Myth then spun and lashed with a vicious kick to the side of Nigel's face, shooting him across the room as well. He hit the wall hard and went limp.  
  
Myth laughed at his own good fortune. The 'villains' had knocked themselves out trying to get to him. But the thoughts on good and evil slipped away quickly. Now there was only the thought of saving his sister. Now.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
After a few more minutes of struggling, the Titans on the outside had managed to 'hack' their way through the magic barring them from the room. And they did not expect to see what they saw when they reached the other side.  
  
"My god..."  
  
The room was decimated; everything had been damaged or destroyed, seemingly each container smashed, and anything that could be moved was either on the floor or imbedded in the walls. Never mind how strong said walls were.  
  
"NOEL!" Raven cried as she ran over to him, letting her emotions slide just this once to tend to her battered other half, who seemed to be in a very uncomfortable position, as well as having a large cut across his face. While the sorceress healed his wounds, the others looked around for Nigel, unsuccessfully.  
  
"Where...is...he?"  
  
Slowly but surely, Noel opened his eyes, only to have his vision swallowed by darkness again as Raven hugged the life out of him in a brief moment of affection.  
  
Before realizing everyone was looking at them. She pulled away, returning to her serious appearance.  
  
"What happened Noel?"  
  
Noel, still trying to regain his bearings, explained to them what had happened, with one or two shocked expressions in the group.  
  
"If that is true, then where the hell is he?!" Robin asked, by now highly irate.  
  
"Yo, what is this stuff?" Cyborg said, as he knelt down by a pool of what looked like ink on the floor. He reached out...  
  
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Raven yelled, but it was too late: he had done so and his hand had burst into flames. Panicking, he shook his hand violently, but it did nothing. In fact, this only seemed to make it worse, as he stumbled around trying to put it out.  
  
Black energy encompassed the blaze, making an air tight barrier around it and forcing the flame to die. Remember science? Fire is a three sided triangle: it needs sustenance, heat and oxygen. Remove just one of these sides and fire cannot exist... or something like that. Cyborg sighed in pure relief as the fire finally went out.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"..."  
  
Raven did not speak, though she had a feeling about something. Was this 'part' of Nigel, and if so were her suspicions actually true? Whether it was or not still remained to be seen, but wherever Nigel was, his opponent might have a harder time than he thought to keep him down.  
  
---------------------------------------------------  
  
As for said opponent, he was making his way quickly up to the final challenge. Though he hardly thought so: the final obstacle in his path was one Garfield Logan, the animal based shape shifter. What could this changeling do against the power of the dragon, the most feared of all mythical beasts? Change into a dog and annoy him?  
  
Please, a little respect for a warrior. They should have put that colourful human on top. Myth had gotten a good vibe from him...  
  
He finally managed to reach the top with the elevator, which opened up on the roof. It had been pre-programmed to lead him up this way, as all the stairwells were blocked, and when he got into the lift it just kept going, despite his verbal and physical protests. Apparently the Titans had been planning to use it once their defence had succeeded. Only it had not, and had served him instead. Stupid children.  
  
Not that he hadn't been annoyed at first. Let's just say the Titan lift now has a new 'fist shaped' centre piece.  
  
But when he reached the top, he saw what he wanted. His sister was there, standing at the top of the tower, dressed only in a morning robe and a light medical gown, her hair down and fluttering in the wind as her red eyes stared meaningfully into her monster brother's. He smiled with joy, but she did not smile at all, her bare feet softly hitting the cold hard surface of the tower. His smile faded as he walked closer, pure curiosity filling the dragon hybrid.  
  
"What is wrong Sis?"  
  
"Well, apart from being on the top of a stupidly tall building, I think you are fighting for the wrong side." Shield replied plainly, her expression never changing. She wrapped the dressing gown closer to her body as the wind picked up, hoping for dear life it didn't get strong enough to carry her over the edge.  
  
"What?!? We have heard of their crimes!" Myth bellowed, confusion starting to rear in his mind once more.  
  
"They were make-believe. I realize that now." Shield said. Tilting her head, she addressed him with the same question that the Titans had addressed her with. "If they were so villainous, do you think they would have taken care of me? Would I be standing here fully healed? Or imprisoned here, battered and bruised in a cage waiting to die?"  
  
There was a pause, as she silently hoped that her brother would understand.  
  
Her pleas were unanswered.  
  
"You lie! They have you sister! It must be some form of mind trap!" He stepped back, getting ready as he looked for someone to attack.  
  
And find someone he did, as a green gorilla landed on him from afar (probably from the top of the roof access lift) and ploughed him into the hard surface off the roof before he leapt off and changed back to human form.  
  
"So much for talking." Beast Boy sighed, wondering what to do now. The guy was already getting back up.  
  
"Please don't hurt him too much. After all he is my brother." Shield asked.  
  
"Hurt HIM too much?" Beast Boy stammered. He was in a real fix. Beast Boy knew that even though he would be restraining himself, the foe would not. And this was evident when Myth clambered to his feet and ran forward, taking out Beast Boy with a drop kick that sent him flying back. And then he was just flying as he changed into a falcon. The changeling countered, attempting to claw the face of his aggressor.  
  
"You rat with wings! Get away from me!" Myth shouted, trying to smack away the falcon, and unfortunately for Beast Boy, he connected with a backhanded blow that sent the green Titan flying through the air, but he had succeeded.  
  
Myth was now blind.  
  
He stood there, struggling to open his damaged eyes, the soft optic orbs probably his only weak spot. He stumbled around, his growls becoming louder and his form changing a little more with each growl. With every breath, he blew a little fire. A tail had formed on his rear, and fully-fledged scales now covered his body.  
  
It was his anger. His sister knew this. The angrier he got, the more he changed, and she didn't want to know what would happen if his totally lost control of his rage.  
  
But she was lucky, as his transformation was halted as two clawed hands went around the creature, and with a feat of great strength and leverage, Myth was German suplexed into the hard covering of the roof, the barrier that protected the Titans from many things, but mostly rain.  
  
"Doctor!" Shield said, seeing the Blacktrinian stand back up, with a slight hole in his chest and an inky substance covering his red suit.  
  
"Yes?" He replied. The black stuff was obviously Scalpel's blood. And now he stood there, with dark rings under his eyes. Not for long though, as, breathing heavily, he fell to one knee. Beast Boy, who had finally returned, flew to them both and landed, shifting back to normal again. He was now sporting a large black eye.  
  
"Thanks bud, I'm glad you decided to..." He paused and saw the state of the Blacktrinian. "Damn! What the hell happened?!?"  
  
"A tactical error. I will be fine." Nigel replied, rising to his feet and nearly falling right back down. This battle was taking its toll on all the Titans, and unless they found a way out of it soon, they might not be here to celebrate tomorrow.  
  
As per usual, fate spat in their face as Myth rose from where he had fallen; using the incredible power of his legs to lift him from his horizontal position. What they saw wasn't what they wanted. He was growing larger, much larger, at least twice the size he had been, and that wasn't it. His skin was nearly jet black, and his face had started to form the lizard-like features that the mythological dragons had possessed The V on his forehead was even more prominent and elongated, very imposing indeed. He was at least halfway to his full transformation.  
  
"Now THAT is a development." Beast Boy commented, looking up at the monster that was staring down at them. Unlike its human counter part, its eyes were perfectly fine, and they looked pretty angry.  
  
"Indeed." Nigel replied to his friend before they backed up...and hit the edge. They had run out of places to go to.  
  
"To coin a phrase 'whoops.'" Nigel said. The dragon had blocked off their only escape route.  
  
Myth, or at least the creature that he had transformed into, raised its head, the beast's neck much longer than it used to be, and it stared down at them before opening its mouth wide. Beast Boy and Nigel wondered what was happening, until a faint glow started to come from the throat.  
  
At that sublime moment, the master of animals, Beast Boy, had realised that Myth was going to have a barbeque, and that the people standing in front of him were on the menu.  
  
"WHOA! NOT GOOD!"  
  
The blast came; intense heat erupted from the belly of the beast and engulfed the group, setting alight the harsh, cold surface of the roof, which managed to ignite without any fuel but the metal on which they stood. The attack had come far too swiftly for them to do anything.  
  
------------------------  
  
Far away, in a make shift row boat made out of Mammoth's frozen form, a charcoal coated and flavoured Gizmo and a battered Jinx looked back at the flame.  
  
"Crazy mother fucker..." She said, staring at their 'boss' in disbelief.  
  
"Best keep rowing, before Ice-zilla here wakes up. Let the snots fry!" The short Techmaster replied, continuing to row. She shrugged.  
  
"Not our problem."  
  
They rowed away to the proverbial sunset, licking their wounds all the way home.  
  
--------------------------  
  
The flames stopped, and the fiend laughed at the thought of the destruction of his foes. When the flames died, he would see the damage that he had wrought.  
  
"Sorry, but they are not on the menu today." A female voice came from the flames, before the burning wall of fire shot forward and pushed the dragon back off the edge. Going from victor to near-vanquished in a second, its claws dug into the side for dear life.  
  
What happened, you might ask? Well, the shield that Charm had placed up at the last second had managed to keep the flames back. She had managed it because she had seen her brother reach this stage before. It was not always a pretty sight. Hell, it was NEVER a pretty sight.  
  
Knowing what was going to happen next, she countered by throwing up a powerful, though draining force field.  
  
Nigel, who was praying intensely, with both feet touching and with one hand up and the index claw of the other resting parallel on the palm of the open hand, opened one eye and looked around. A little stunned that he was still here and that the ring of fire that had been created was kept away from him, he thanked everyone he had prayed to. He stood back up, trying to regain his composure while brushing bits of ash from his suit and wound. He needed to find out what had happened.  
  
"Have I expired?" He asked. He double-checked just to be sure.  
  
"I don't think so." Beast Boy replied, looking around. It wasn't long before he spied the dragon hanging off the building. In a bit of Super Smash Brothers Melee-inspired action, Beast Boy had an idea.  
  
"But I KNOW dragons don't like water!"  
  
Beast Boy turned into a bull and rammed the creature square in the face, which knocked him off balance but not off the edge. His claws were dug in far too deep for that. So Nigel decided to jump in and distract the beast by slashing at its claws with his own, while Beast Boy reared back and took another charge at him This time it was enough to knock him off the edge.  
  
Myth realised he was falling and tried to right himself, but by the time he had, he had struck the water like a sack of brick tied down with a few lead weights.  
  
That's the problem with being larger...  
  
Less distance to fall.  
  
There was silence for a moment or two, before Nigel fell back down, exhausted and suffering from loss of blood. He promptly fell asleep.  
  
Beast Boy sighed in relief, knowing now that Myth won't be coming back. Well, knowing their luck, not until the Titans were all injured or at some other really inappropriate time. Charm herself smiled, she could read his doubts.  
  
"That will not have killed my brother." She said, as she shook her head lightly, her hair swaying slightly in the wind. "But it will have slowed him down. I had best go find him."  
  
This announcement stunned Gar.  
  
"When are you going?"  
  
"Right away. I had best search the banks to see if he crawls up on one of them, and try to persuade him to leave you be." A sigh escaped her lips. She loved her brother, as family of course, but sometimes she didn't like having to sit such a powerful man down and tell him what was right and wrong. She started to walk to the lift access, but a gloved hand grabbed her wrist. She looked back and her eyes met the eye (the other was blackened and swelling shut) of Beast Boy, whose green cheeks were a little red.  
  
"But... I haven't found out what it is about you..." He stammered.  
  
She almost knew what he meant; there was something about him as well. His confidence, his humour and his ability to see every angle including the one he wanted most.  
  
She couldn't explain it, but sometimes love had a funny way with people. Smiling, she rubbed her hand against the unharmed side of his face.  
  
"Perhaps one day we can find out?" She asked, giving him a peck on the cheek and walking away, playing it cool. Garfield was a little stunned, holding the now 'sacred' cheek.  
  
"Oh, by the way."  
  
She turned back to him and threw him a card. "This has my number on it, ask for Elisa Ashton." She gave another quick grin and turned away, leaving Beast Boy to beam for himself.  
  
"Oh yeah, go Beast Boy! Who's the stud? Go Beast Boy! You got the girl!" He chanted, as he did the 'Go Beast Boy' happy dance and nearly tripped up over the sleeping doctor, who had started to murmur in Blacktrinian in his sleep. Beast Boy gave him a glance and laughed to himself.  
  
All was good in the world.  
  
For now anyway.  
  
----------------------------------------------  
  
Later that night, when the moon was bright and the stars were out, and while everyone rested, recovered or slept, two figures were at the doctor's door, opening the lock slowly without a key.  
  
Or in plain English, breaking in.  
  
They were there for one purpose and one purpose only, to take a look at some of the private papers inside his locked cabinets. The room was eerie to say the least. In the few hours of daylight the Titans had left, they had gotten their newest member some furnishings, and a hand made bed, just like the others had, near the medical bay. Which was pretty damn hard considering how sore they all were.  
  
It seemed very demonic indeed as the alien lay there, motionless and still, the bandage covering his middle. Spikes shot out from the edge of the bed and almost wrapped upwards and around the Blacktrinian, making an open cocoon with a gap in the middle that was just large enough for a person to sleep in. Each part of the room seemed a little dark and twisted. Books and artefacts from alien races and cultures, weapons and a strange, sadistic looking long blade attached firmly onto a base with a low chair attached to the same pedestal. Scrolls with strange characters on them that seemed to reach the floor; all lined up like the suits in his closet. It looked more like a temple to some sick cult than a room.  
  
For someone who had nowhere to go, he sure had a lot of things.  
  
One of the pair who had broke in lifted up a book. It was large and thick, and on it was a large crystal in the shape of a star, with silver corners.  
  
"Why do I get the feeling we are not suppose to be here?" One of them whispered, a tall man with a broad chest, but a relatively relaxed tone.  
  
"Maybe because the door was locked." The smaller, more controlled one said. He was already working on the lock to the file cabinet. With a slight click, the leader pulled out the drawer and started to search through.  
  
"Subject: Raven. Apart from being a little overly worried about the size of her hips and a little undernourishment, Raven is in perfect physical health. Remember to keep regular exercise, yadda-yadda-yadda." He continued to scroll through.  
  
"I always thought her hips were quite large, but I didn't think she would be so bothered..." The larger man pondered, thinking out loud, abet still in a whisper.  
  
"I know. Listen to this one. Subject: Beast Boy AKA Garfield Logan. Beast Boy is a very lean individual, however his pure tofu diet can cause irritation as the level of some minerals and vitamins in his blood are dropping. Best advice would be to prescribe vitamins and a tonic to replace the lost necessities."  
  
"I knew it, I just knew it."  
  
There was a pause as they finally found what they were looking for.  
  
"Subject: Starfire, AKA Koriand'r, Kory Anders."  
  
They pulled the file out and placed it on the side, moving the books and journals around to have more room.  
  
"Height: approximately 5ft 4 inches, weight: 100 lbs, eyes green, hair red, etc, etc, etc." There was a pause as they read through. Like all the other files, it had a lot of info on it, and unlike the others they couldn't look out for the main points, they had to read everything.  
  
"A 'C' cup?" The outsized man asked, leaning a little closer.  
  
"Do you mind?" As the smaller, more competent assailant glared, his companion laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.  
  
"Sorry, I just happened to notice it."  
  
There was another short space of silence, and he knew he was forgiven, so he started to read a little more. "With wonderful reflexes and muscle tone she is more likely then not the healthiest of the titans?" The bulkier one asked, leaning over.  
  
"And that's not all. This is last week's entry. 'Starfire has been complaining of stomach pains and slight nausea. I am unsure of what has caused this or what may have caused it. I can only assume it was the food she ate, however that would not account to it happening all day. Doing some tests I have come across no real evidence. I there for must conclude one of two facts, either Starfire is having an adverse affect to something I or the others have made for her to eat or the rare possibility of her being...' I can't make that out..." The smaller one asked, holding it closer.  
  
"Looks like the word... Page? Pageant? Pregnant? Promoted? No, it looks like pregnant."  
  
"Right, pregnant."  
  
A pause.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Then, the alarm sounded, and the pair ran as fast as they could from the room.  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
Nigel, looking very annoyed with the panic button in one hand the other holding his bandaged torso as he sat up from his merciless-looking bed. Raven and her other half Savior ran in, armed and ready with the Shimmer and mind powers. Both were in their evening wear. Raven was even in evil- looking slippers.  
  
"What happened?" Noel asked Nigel as he staggered up from his bed. Raven turned the lights on to see the room in full view. In this light, which happened to be an electronic flame on the ceiling, it looked even more like some kind of temple.  
  
"And what are you doing out of bed?" Raven said, as her 'Rock muscle' kicked in, one of her brows arching.  
  
"Someone has violated my privacy and yours, as they searched through my records of your health."  
  
"Was it Myth again? Please tell me it was Myth. I didn't much cotton to his dull sword comment, especially considering the agony I went through to make that decision. Let's see how dull he thinks my Shimmer is after I shoot it down his throat and pull his guts out to stuff in his..."  
  
"Cool the wounded male ego Noel. The records. Aren't they suppose to be in a locked cabinet?" The resident Goth asked, floating over.  
  
"They were." He pointed to the small but useful treasure chest-like item that had housed the files and documents, before it had been broken into not five minutes ago. Noel picked one up.  
  
"Concerned about the size of her hips?" Savior read aloud, before being hit with the face with the first big book Raven found. Which happened to be the large one from before, you know, the one with the jewel? The one that was sharp and hard? That, as I will remind you, hit him in the face? "OW!"  
  
With a sigh, and a bruise from Raven, Nigel cleared up all the files and portfolios. Who would want such information? And why?  
  
Looks like another day in Titan Tower.  
  
"I like your legs."  
  
WHACK!  
  
"OW!"  
  
Yep, just another day.  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
La-la-la-LAAAA!  
  
Nigel: We really do need a theme song...

Okay, allow me to explain that ending... sits in his big chair with his hands Gendo style Well the original story line had entailed for Starfire to have Cancer from living on earth for too long and perhaps if (note that IF) she got better; she could have helped cure cancer...  
  
Starfire: whimpers  
  
But my partners in crime, Legend Maker and Bobcat didn't really like it, and the fact that I didn't know too much about it either didn't help. However now we needed something to fill the gap. I had suggested many things, but none of them worked too well. I then joked about having Starfire Pregnant, as someone said I can 'write pregnancy' quite well or something like that.  
  
They didn't think I was joking...  
  
And so they persuaded me to use it as a plot device. Why? Well later on in one of Legend Maker's fics she may explain why, but for now I have to try and continue on. Oh the life of an author...

But all the same; this is another chapter done and this is the biggest so far! I hope your enjoying it and I hope you will stick with me for chapter nine of Flashing lights and sounds! 


	9. Hazing: 1000 words, all Ouch

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr.Noel Collins but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
Note: Just so you know, in this fic Starfire is roughly 17-18 earth years old. She can have a baby if she wishes. Besides if you still are not happy with it, read the explanation in the last chapter.   
  
Enjoy!  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Chapter 9: 1000 words, all Ouch (or words to that effect).  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Well I suppose you probably want to know what happened next.  
  
After Robin found out about the turn of events that had occurred, him being the thief and all that had broken into Nigel's room (if it wasn't obvious enough already), he confronted Starfire, who confirmed his suspicions of thinking she might be... in trouble. Sadly, because of her alien DNA, no one could actually tell if she was or not. But while Nigel pondered this problem and ways of solving it, Robin and his other half (plus one?) tried to work things out, and she had been banned from doing any form of crime fighting until they knew for certain.  
  
Unfortunately, Robin has also started to re-blame Nigel for keeping this a secret, even though it was at the request of Starfire herself. He never seems to catch a break when it comes to their leader, does he? He understood about the first time, as he DID attack her, but back then there was a war on. But this is just plain stupid. Then again, for all his talents Robin was still a teenager. Doing something stupid was practically their divine right.  
  
Well, a few months have moved on since then. Nigel has been a Titan for around 5 months. In other news, Beast Boy and Charm have been steadily (though secretly) seeing each other, and it seems to be going well. She also (by appointment of Garfield Logan) is now an Honorary Teen Titan, much in the same way as Aqualad. This meant she wasn't on the roster, but could be called on when trouble was at hand.  
  
Still no news of her brother though, who had eluded capture. Aqualad's help to try and find him also came up a big zero (Aqualad complained that all he had done since he became an Honorary Teen Titan was look for bodies to make sure villains were dead). One small favour though, as they found Nigel's wallet in the water. He had lots of precious metal coins that they had traded in for large sums of cash to help rebuild the tower.  
  
In other local news the android that escaped Gotham city has still evaded incarceration and officials are becoming more and more worried for the citizens of other cities close to it, as it is a heavily armed piece of equipment. It was supposedly armed with the most powerful human-sized riffle in production (gee, ain't THAT a coincidence). The rifle of that calibre was usually mounted onto the top of an armoured car, but the android seems strong enough to be able to use it as a personal weapon, even while running. No more details regrettably.  
  
"To the bridge, computer!"  
  
And of course the ever-random return of one of the more laid back Titans: Robert Cantite, also know as Gauntlet.  
  
"I am not the Star Trek computer, and we have no 'bridge' level." A mechanical voice came through the elevator as it started to ascend. Gauntlet shrugged a little and reminded himself to program a sense of humour into the Titan mainframe, with a little help from Cyborg.  
  
Robert had just returned from what the Titans frequently refer to as the most boring part of the year, the annual conference of the financial side of heroism. Basically, a lot of lawyers talking to superheroes about the number of buildings they have destroyed to save the day and the cost of rent and damages. The whole thing took months, as every so often, and more likely than not, one of the superheroes would have to depart to save the world, or some randomness like someone attacking the hotel where they stayed, and sometimes the little things like 'borrowing' a bathrobe raised suspicions on identity and ability to be a hero in the first place. Gauntlet had tried his hardest to prove that the robe with the hotel insignia on it was a family heirloom, and the fact he had about seven or eight in his bag meant that he was carrying spares in case one got damaged.  
  
Well, he had finally convinced them to let him go if he returned the robes and also paid attention at the meetings, which he did. To a degree. He returned the ones he stole; only to steal fresh ones by claiming someone else was stealing his. It was society paying him back for the long hours and lack of holiday or even a steady pay check. Oh, and the saving of the world thing as well.  
  
What do you expect from a man who only got onto the Titans by court order?  
  
He reached the living room via elevator and jumped out, singing his own theme tune, one arm outstretched in a super hero like pose.  
  
"DA-DA-DA-DAAAA!!" He bellowed at the top of his lungs, waiting to be heard, and heard he was. Everyone in the tower heard him, and someone in the docks across from the Tower's island thought they had heard a yell, but then put it down to his schizophrenic delusions.  
  
"Don't tell me..." Savior groaned, hoping for dear life that it wasn't the man he thought it was. He and Gauntlet didn't really get along. Okay that was an understatement: they NEVER got along. One was serious and intellectual, the other was a lad's lad, who joked and showed off.  
  
Cyborg looked around and smiled as the last missing Titan returned.  
  
"Okay, I won't tell you."  
  
"What? You didn't miss me?" Rob asked, wrapping his arms around Noel, who quickly shrugged it off and jumped up and over to another seat, a look of pure disgust on his face. Great, Goofman was back. JUST what he needed.  
  
"So, what ya get me?" Beast Boy asked, jumping around to face him, his usual huge smile splattered across his features.  
  
"Who said I got you anything?"  
  
"Dude, that's low..."  
  
"I know, maybe these Grand Harbour Hotel bathrobes will cheer you up?" He said, holding out a shimmering white piece of cloth as he unfurled it to reveal the wonder of a five star hotel dressing gown, lined in gold and as soft as... a very soft thing (I would say snow, but spending a week falling over onto it I can tell you snow isn't as soft as they advertise...)  
  
"One for you, one for you, even one for you grumpy!" He handed them out, throwing the one for Noel at him. Noel didn't even flinch as it landed right on his face; he just pulled it off and turned the page, ignoring him.  
  
"Thanks." He muttered  
  
"One for your bird too." Rob added. He threw another, but this time the Shimmer caught it and placed it gently on the side next to him.  
  
"Don't call Raven my bird. She's not in a cage singing to me for birdseed."  
  
"That's not what she was saying the last time I saw her!" Rob cracked. Noel had to resist every urge he had to grab Gauntlet and throw him out the window. He had to resist that urge at least three times in an average day with Rob.  
  
Rob passed a robe to Robin, who was sat on the other side of the couch with another controller in hand, and then he came across someone who he hadn't seen before, who was also reading, but upside down in a chair. "And who are you?"  
  
"I'm Scalpel, AKA Nigel Hastings, the newest Titan, it's a pleasure."  
  
"I'm Gauntlet, the ex-newest Titan. Hey man, you usurped me! Oh well, have a bath robe anyway, even if I don't know who the hell you are. Usurper." He handed the alien one of the monogrammed gowns and turned back to the group.  
  
"How exactly did you come by these? To my knowledge just one of these is worth over one hundred dollars." Noel questioned, looking at, in his opinion, the least trustworthy Titan, much less so than their latest edition. At least Nigel had been a soldier, and he understood the hardships of battle and this life. Rob never seemed to even REGISTER there were hardships, which greatly irritated Noel.  
  
"Well...let's just say I felt it was time to be paid back for our hard work."  
  
"Stolen." All the other Titans groaned.  
  
"It's only stolen if they know its gone!" He argued. "Besides, they expect you to steal things! They said so on the Simpsons!"  
  
"The Simpsons is a cartoon. This is real life." Noel said in not-so- pleasant tone.  
  
"Anyway! The new guy!" Gauntlet said. He turned to Nigel, quickly changing subjects to get away from the stream of enquiries that was sure to follow. "How was the Hazing? Nice and painful I hope." He laughed, before there was a pause.  
  
"Ha-zing?" Nigel asked, looking up from where he was, a confused look coming across where the smile used to be.  
  
Then the boys (well, except Noel, who looked up and rolled his eyes as he realized what had just happened) grinned evilly at the sudden realization of it all.  
  
He was never hazed.  
  
Oh sure, he had been interrogated and proved himself in battle just fine, but never hazed. Which gave the boys something to do, and also gave them a reason to get back at everyone's favourite Blacktrinian. Robin wanted the chance to get even because of the secret kept between himself and his girlfriend. The duo of Cyborg and Beast Boy want to lay the smackdown on the doctor for all the times he has done that to them in the video game world (how the hell did he managed to work a controller so efficiently with only two fingers?). Gauntlet wants to because Nigel has managed to get away with being here as part of the team without being hazed. And despite his irritation at the whole concept, even Noel had a slight desire to do it: when Starfire's pregnancy was made public, Raven banned him from ever touching her again until she said so, which at this moment in time is still in effect (And she meant it. Just to test this theory he tried to get close to her, in a sort of 'let us see by touch' kind of way, and she promptly turned around and lifted him from her room via her magic, and locked the door. At least she didn't inflict any damage to his genitals) Normally, Noel could have lived with this...had he and Raven not started sleeping together shortly before Nigel had arrived (and it was a damn good reason. Jason Blood had called Raven and told him that while hunting through interdimensional realms had had stumbled onto the information that her father, weakened from the brutal battle he had had with the Titans, had been slain by another for his power. She was free of his curse forever. And since Noel had just gotten back from a task that had kept her separated from him for a long time...well, use your imagination). And while he was, unlike SOME people he knew, a slave to his hormones, he still liked doing it, and now he couldn't, and his blame for that has been placed on the doctor, as he can't blame Raven or the others.  
  
Nigel, at this point, was now on his feet and looking very scared.  
  
"Why do I now fear for my life?" He asked plainly, drumming on the arm of the chair lightly.  
  
"Titans! Go!" Robin called as they (excluding Noel) dived at him. Luckily he countered and rolled backwards over the chair, meaning that Gauntlet and Cyborg ended up going face first into the base of the seat. Nigel flipped backwards and ran down the corridor past Starfire and Raven, who were making Kory the biggest sandwich ever made inside of the tower. It stood a full 7 bread slices high, and had everything from Starfire's favourite foods to random bits of Tofu left by Beast Boy. Raven didn't look too impressed.  
  
"And a little bit here, and there, and we are done! Our wonderful piece of bread loaf intermixed with meats and dairies have produced a wonderful specimen, ready for the eating." She cooed, before attempting to lift the structure from the plate to take a bite from it. She then saw a red blur pass by, followed by lots of other blurs, followed by Noel, who was casually strolling after them, trying to act like he was above the whole deal.  
  
"Friend Raven, correct me if I am wrong, but was that Nigel followed by the other Titans?" Kory questioned, pausing from the monumental snack in front of her. Raven, who had been reading, looked up.  
  
"Didn't see."  
  
Cyborg walked past, holding his hand above his eyes in the body language that said he was looking for someone. He was holding a cricket bat in the other, and was closely followed by Gauntlet.  
  
"Well, well, the 'hero' returns." Raven commented, turning all the way around to face the pair.  
  
"Have you seen Nigel? He needs hazing." Gauntlet replied. Raven was about to say no, but then she had a thought. Ever since Nigel arrived, she didn't remember ever giving him a hazing, as all members of the Titans had to participate. And the hazing was a tradition. Even SHE had endured one.  
  
And admittingly, for as well as her cold exterior hid it, not allowing Noel near was starting to take its toll on her also...  
  
Alas, she could not just simply let go of her principles, so she must take her frustrations out by other means, like meditating... and hazing. She liked that idea, oh she did indeed, because at that moment she levitated six cricket bats above her, slowly spinning them in a circle. Where did she get the cricket bats? Hey, I just work here.  
  
Cyborg gulped as she ran forwards. Gauntlet was about to address Starfire on whether or not she wanted to join them, but he noticed the piece of clothing she happened to be wearing, and what it said. It was a pink T- shirt with white writing, and it said 'mother in training' and an arrow pointing to her stomach. It took nigh on three...seconds to him to work it out, and then he left to go find Nigel himself, which in turn left Starfire alone to try her best at the monster sandwich and take it easy.  
  
Nigel, on the other hand, wasn't taking it easy at all. He was trying his hardest to escape the obviously persistent Titans who were in hot pursuit. Rounding a corner, Nigel found an old service hatch and kicked down on it at an angle, flipping it up into the air. Catching it, he jumped down the hole holding it above him, sealing it off as he fell for a bit and then landed in his room. He had found this by accident one day, when he was walking and he heard a hollow noise. Not thinking his plan ahead, he slammed his foot down hard and fell through into the room that was now his bedroom, seriously bruising his coccyx. And before you say anything that's the bone at the base of the spine that is also referred to as the tailbone. Get your minds out of the gutter. That's MY job. Heh heh. Ahem...  
  
Now safely in the sanctuary of his own room, Nigel sighed and reached up for the cord that turned on the lights.  
  
"That was too close." He breathed, clicking on the light.  
  
"It was, wasn't it?" The doctor looked around, his eyes wide and then he saw them. Standing there were the rest of the Teen Titans, armed to the teeth with what looked like wooden battle clubs, each wearing a sadistic smile on their features (even Noel and Raven had an inkling of it, as much as they were trying to hide it and act like they were unwillingly getting dragged along).  
  
The how's and the why's on exactly how they had all beaten him into his own room no longer mattered. All that did matter was escaping, and that killer Blacktrinian survival instinct told him one thing. When in a room this size facing that many opponents, there was only one thing to do.  
  
Trap them, then escape.  
  
And that he did. Using what little speed he could build up, he ran to the side and grabbed one of his long wall scrolls, jumping back over in a complete flip, wrapping up Beast Boy and Cyborg. He would have repeated that again, but the close proximity of his foes meant he could be grabbed anywhere, so the only thing to do was kick up his bed sheet into their faces and make a break for the door. As if that would work, but did it anyway, jumping up and over...  
  
"Got you!" Gauntlet shouted, producing a barrier in front of him. He flew face first into this invisible wall, and then Noel and the Shimmer stepped in, wrapping up the Blacktrinian so he couldn't move.  
  
"Why does life hate me?" He asked, sighing. The rest laughed to themselves.  
  
Let the Hazing, begin!  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Throughout all the pain and hurt that the Titans had supplied, with all the fights and arguments and the blame placed on him, Nigel Hastings never once regretted joining the Titans.  
  
Until now.  
  
He was, at this moment in time, tied to a chair with the other Titans in front of him preparing what they called the Hazing ceremony. From what he had gathered from the conversations amongst themselves, he would be tested on his reflexes, endurance, honesty and commitment through a series of activities, most of which seems to involve the use of those dangerous looking, but non-lethal battle clubs. He sweatdropped and sighed. It was cruel enough to tie him up, but they had found his nighttime claw covers and used them so he couldn't cut through the bindings. What a predicament.  
  
"No way! He HAS to be hazed now!"  
  
Nigel looked back up as Gauntlet shouted what he had, before placing one 'club' in his mouth while holding two in each hand.  
  
"Whoa there 'Suron', this isn't 'One Piece' and you are not with a pirate made out of rubber." Beast Boy said, holding back Titan number seven with a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Someone has been watching too much anime again." Raven stated as she made her way past them, her cricket bat held loosely in one hand, dragging it across the floor.  
  
"Well aren't we Miss Know It All. Wait a sec, how did YOU know it was an anime?" Gar asked, pointing a white-gloved hand at the sorceress. Raven stopped in her tracks and turned around.  
  
"...You said so."  
  
"No I didn't, I said it was 'One Piece', I didn't say it was an anime, and only a handful in this area know of it because they don't stock it in the stores around here!"  
  
"..."  
  
"You've been anime binging in the night!" Cyborg called in realization, his hand pointing. Raven didn't have anything to say.  
  
"Quick, get the doctor! She's in denial!" Gauntlet yelled in mock horror, as he ran around a little before Savior grabbed him with the Shimmer and ground him to a halt.  
  
"He's over there." Noel pointed at Nigel.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"The doctor."  
  
"Nigel is the new Doctor Who? Cool!"  
  
Noel facevaulted.  
  
Robin entered the room (strangely, via an air duct) and landed a little worse for wear but still whole. Although his clothes were a little charred and tattered, he seemed generally okay.  
  
"Robin! Your safe return greatly pleases me!" Starfire hugged her other half, which was followed by the usual call of...wait for it...  
  
"Air, Star! Air!"  
  
She promptly let go, with her usual blush, and returned to her place in the line up. She had eaten the entire sandwich, with little or no trouble. She would have made another one but she was called to help the hazing.  
  
Plus she had used up all the food in the fridge, blue and furry or not.  
  
"So did you get it?" Rob asked.  
  
Robin held up a golden rope with a knot in one end that doubled on itself in a slipknot or in layman's terms, a lasso. A golden lasso. Wonder Woman's golden lasso. Wonder Woman's golden lasso of truth if I have to get painfully obvious with you.  
  
"It took me forever to find this, and then I had to break into the security systems to unlock it. Even then it was pretty tough to get it."  
  
"But security codes for you, that's not problem right? You were trained by Batman in computers!" Beast Boy said, shrugging at what took him so long.  
  
"The security system was designed by Batman!" Noel countered, expressing his point a little... vividly. Well he was a fan of the Dark Knight I suppose. Plus, he found the whole concept of breaking into the Watchtower just to take Wonder Woman's golden lasso of truth for the sake of a HAZING ritual absolutely asinine, almost offensive. That, and Rob hadn't had it happened to him because Robin hadn't been able to break in that time.  
  
"Calm Noel, calm." Raven said, placing one hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Yes dear." Noel replied, knowing he was in the majority.  
  
"Woppah." Nigel said from the back of the room, in a plain voice. Noel arched an eyebrow, wondering what he had said. Maybe it was Blacktrinian. But if so, why was Beast Boy smiling? And Cyborg and Gauntlet?  
  
"Someone has been watching Friends."  
  
"It is a very amusing portrayal on human behaviour." The doctor said, giving a trademark grin and laughing.  
  
"He is saying you are whipped my friend!" Beast Boy called, unable to stop himself from laughing. For those who don't know, 'Woppah' is the sound Chandler made when he said that someone was 'whipped'.  
  
"I am NOT whipped!" Noel yelled. "She doesn't control me!" He pointed to Raven, who quickly and slyly bit his finger. "OW! What was that for!"  
  
"Who is she? The cat's mother?" Raven replied.  
  
"Don't do that! It completely undermines my point!"  
  
"Did you ever have one to begin with?" Raven rumbled. It was her turn to get a little annoyed as she glared at her now slightly cowering boyfriend. All the while, Nigel was laughing his head off at the display of disorganisation and lack of cooperation. And it made him laugh, oh yes indeed it did, as soon he would not be laughing, but instead hurting from the head down. "Can we start now? I have things to do."  
  
"Yeah, like making time for Savior to apologize for an hour, then an hour of making out to seal the deal." Gar said, once again opening his big mouth. Cyborg jumped in and covered it, but too late. Noel and Raven were both looking very unhappy.  
  
Nigel too had shut up, afraid what a broody Goth girl who has been deprived of the newly discovered joys of sexual pleasure for a month might do to him. The whole pleasure/pain idea came back into focus. She had no physical pleasure, so she would cause him as much pain as humanly possible.  
  
Oh joy.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
Blindfolded, they allowed their captive to stand up without restraints for the first of the tasks, 'The Ever Decreasing Circle', or in other words where all the Titans surround him and hit him with a paddle randomly, closing in. So they started, swinging in...  
  
Unfortunately for them Nigel somehow jumped up and slashed at the first one, chopping it in half before he kicked away another. He disarmed one of the Titans and threw the paddle at another.  
  
There was a pause. It was great when things went to plan, wasn't it?  
  
"What just..." Cyborg asked, looking at his ruined paddle in disbelief.  
  
"Did I pass?" Nigel asked, lifting off his blindfold to see the decimation he had wrought on his unsuspecting opponents.  
  
"But how..." Beast Boy started, before he stopped and came closer to Nigel. "Has anyone ever noticed how large and pointed his ears are?"  
  
"This is no time for ear envy Gar." Robin muttered grimly as he stood up, rubbing his sore jaw line from where the cricket bat had hit him.  
  
"No, I know what he is getting at..." Noel stated, with Raven nodding.  
  
"He can hear everything to the point that it's as effective as if he was seeing it with his own eyes." She noted. "He was able to disarm Star because he heard no footsteps, abet breathing, and assumed it was one of the women, who can both fly, so he went a little gentler on her. As for Cyborg he heard heavy footsteps and so disabled you by destroying your paddle."  
  
Her voice obviously spoke the truth because of the wide grin of pride slapped onto the Blacktrinians face.  
  
"So what do we do?"  
  
"Get the earmuffs of DOOM!" Gauntlet shouted, raising his hand high with one of the few paddles left. The other guys, save Noel, who kept trying to talk to Raven and kept getting shoved away, agreed and they brought out a pair of pink earmuffs.  
  
"I said OF DOOOM!"  
  
Cyborg shrugged and wrote 'of Doom' on them before slapping them onto the Blacktrinian's head. With a worried expression on everyone's face, they started again, moving a little cautiously.  
  
It wasn't necessary. This time he was helpless, and was therefore beaten relentlessly. Although he suffered less than Savior did when he had gone through this, he hurt much more than when Gauntlet had to do this. Blacktrinians are thick skinned, not impervious to pain.  
  
"Now for the Unblinking Eye." Whack, whack, whack, whack, whack, whack.  
  
"Now for the Crossing The Desert!" Whack, whack, whack, whack, whack.  
  
"Owwwww." Nigel was starting to hurt.  
  
"Oh stop it you baby. You had a blade shoved through you and before that you fell several stories and landed in water and the only thing that bothered you about that was that you couldn't swim. You can take a few blows with a paddle." Noel said.  
  
"And now as a tribute to Savior, we have the Golf Swing of Dismay."  
  
"What's the Golf Swing of..."  
  
WHACK!!!  
  
"DISSMMMAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!" Starfire had swung like there was no tomorrow and poor old Nigel was sent flying off into the sunset, or at least where it would have been there in a few hours. Unless you were in the Green Berets movie.  
  
"I'm sooooo proud." Noel said sarcastically, faking a tear as Nigel disappeared. He landed around forty foot away, on the way passing through a random office building, going through one side and out the other to land in a large tree in a local park. He had cursed all the way there in his normal tongue and people thought there was some sort of monster coming down the road. Locals reported seeing something red and white flying through the sky. He was picked up 20 minuets later by Raven.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"I hate you all." Was his only reply.  
  
----------------------------------  
  
After the equally disastrous 'leap of faith' they retired to do the twenty questions round. What made that round so awful in comparison to the first one? Well Nigel did as he was told and jumped, and whoever drew the short straw would catch him on his way down.  
  
"You ready?" Cyborg had lifted up his earmuff to ask him.  
  
"Yes." He replied honestly before jumping off the edge. Expecting to be caught any time soon.  
  
Anytime.  
  
Now would be nice.  
  
Except up top they had forgotten who was supposed to catch him.  
  
"It's suppose to be Star."  
  
"In her condition? I thought it was Savior."  
  
"Not me, it's my better half's turn."  
  
"Whipped."  
  
"Shut UP!"  
  
"It's not me."  
  
Splash.  
  
"Oh shiatsu. It was me." Gauntlet said, holding up the short straw. They made their way over to the edge and looked down. "Do I have to save him?"  
  
"I'd recommend it. He can't swim." Noel said.  
  
Except Nigel, once he was near the ground, had struggled out of Gauntlet's grip and started running around the Tower to escape this madness. This time the Titans had had to chase him around for twenty minutes before they caught him.  
  
So Nigel, now wet, sweaty, mad, and feeling like he cheated death yet again, was sitting in the living room, his arm tied to one of the chairs with the golden lasso. He had a piercing stare on his face, glaring at the Titans in a manner that could only be described as utter disgust.  
  
"I said I was sorry!" Rob called, sitting cross-legged on the floor as Nigel's eyes came upon him. He had started to calm down a little, which was a good thing for the ex-con Gauntlet.  
  
"Twenty questions!" Beast Boy said. Four of them were present for this round of Twenty Questions: Beast Boy, Cyborg, Robin and Starfire. Gauntlet was present but not allowed to ask any questions because of his major screw up earlier, and after running around trying to catch Gauntlet and getting all worked up, and finding themselves alone on the other side of the tower, temptation was just too much for Savior and Raven to fight off. Let's just say if they are not careful, there could be another baby on the way. Possibly a girl named Kyra (o-).  
  
"Starfire, if you would be so kind to start."  
  
The other hazing veterans groaned as they knew she would pick the most obvious questions, but I suppose they were a little necessary.  
  
"What is your real name?"  
  
"Nigicalnack Hastionfarlock, which is abbreviated to Nigel Hastings."  
  
A screwed up expression speared onto the features of the humans in the room. How did his people pronounce that on a daily basis?!  
  
"Where did you live?"  
  
"Star, haven't we talked about this before?" Robin asked, patting her hand lightly before letting her continue. They had talked about the whole idea of Twenty Questions before, and to be honest she was a little confused, but it didn't bother her.  
  
"I live on the Azubak moon in the Vegnerenom system, in a small picturesque village called Uintoe." He replied, smiling for the first time since the hazing began. Although this was his home now, he still liked the village and the people there, and more is the pity because they really did notice that he was gone, as every morning he would walk his same route to the pier, spend a few hours fishing and walk in casually late to the doctor surgery, only to be told off and told he was a lazy bum. He'd then work madly and cook some of the fish that night at the local bar to be raffled off as a free meal.  
  
But let us not dwell on the past.  
  
"I have been to that moon; it's very nice in the summer as it is not very hot." Starfire said, a wide smile on her face. "But I must ask you, if you ever had the chance to go back, would you?"  
  
"It really depends on a lot of things."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Wasted question!" Beast Boy groaned, falling over.  
  
"Well one reason to go back would be so I could see my father and some of my friends. Another reason could be because I loved the fish on that moon. But it I ever went back there the military would find me and kill me in a very harsh way for desertion. So I would rather stay here on this quaint little planet, with my new friends... even if SOME let me FALL off a BUILDING." He glared once again at Gauntlet. There was a slight pause at what he had said, but they continued on anyway.  
  
"If you could get hold of it, would you ever allow us to have Blacktrinian alcohol?"  
  
Surprise was the only look on Robin's face at Star's question.  
  
"It really depends, can you handle it?"  
  
"We ask the questions around here." Robin cut in, not wanting to divulge that some of them can't handle a few pints of beer, let alone what his race's alcohol might be like. The question alone of 'can you handle it' posed a question of its strength. Not to mention that all the Titans were technically under the legal drinking age anyway!  
  
"My turn!" Beast Boy called, really anxious to get in some good questions.  
  
"No way! It's always me next!" His taller friend Cyborg replied, looking as if he wanted to start a fight. "Anyway, first question! If you had a piece of rope tied to a building and two people where falling, one being really thin, and the other being really fat, which one would you catch?"  
  
"Both, all you have to do is swing while falling and you move in an arc, catching both." He beamed, having an answer for everything.  
  
"Alright, are those real? Or are they the result of some experiment?" Cyborg said. He pointed to Nigel's claws.  
  
"All Blacktrinians have these. They are given to the children when they are old enough, which is around one or two years of your time old I think. They are grafted onto the skin to protect our hands. Able to slice almost anything and yet cradle a baby at the same time. Both men and woman have these claws."  
  
"Do you feel that you can be a vital part of this team?"  
  
"Not vital, but I could help I feel with the increase of overpowered villains appearing now and again. That Lord fellow sounded very unpleasant. Though I seem very clumsy I can help... Did I just say that?"  
  
"It's the truth lasso."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Next question; have you ever played any musical instruments?"  
  
"I used to play an instrument called the Fackla; I suppose the human equivalent would be the drums with the cymbols and the bass drum."  
  
A little smile came across the face of the lads before Cyborg asked the last question.  
  
"If you had a room, would it be facing the sun in the morning, afternoon, evening or not at all?"  
  
"I do not understand the question."  
  
"Too bad Cyborg, my turn!" Beast Boy jumped in quickly before Cyborg could clarify his question. As Savior did, Nigel didn't feel comfortable at all with Beast Boy at the controls of the truth lasso.  
  
"What is the most embarrassing thing you have ever done?"  
  
"I got, as you humans say, plastered against my will one night and I ended up suspended by my feet from a tall building on my home world singing about a cartoon character. It must have been a good night, as that is all I can remember of it..." He smiled, paused, then quickly frowned and buried his face in his free hand cursing in Blacktrinian. "I had never wanted to tell anyone that."  
  
Laughs seemed to fill the room for a little while before the next question was to be asked.  
  
"Wonder Woman or Black Canary?"  
  
"Wonder Woman, got to love that figure..." He groaned. "Foolish truth lasso."  
  
"What do you do in your spare time? Apart from videogames."  
  
"I sharpen my claws, catch up on all the medical red tape you have neglected and generally relax any way I can. Oh, and I go fishing."  
  
"Sharpen your claws?"  
  
"Yes, it's the big blade I have in my room with the chair attached to it. It's very sharp and helps keep my claws keen. Question number five please."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You asked me about my Ylental, or claw sharpener. And now you just asked what I meant by the question four comment, which is all five of your questions used up."  
  
Nigel beamed. He loved outsmarting Beast Boy. He had the most confused expression on his face anyone ever had, and then he just walked off.  
  
"Right, I suppose it's my turn." Robin sat forward a little, pondering. "From what we have seen, you cannot swim. Is this just you or a race thing?"  
  
"No one I know of can swim; we dare not go into the water because if we go to deep then we will drown."  
  
"That doesn't mean you can't ever swim, right?" He asked, opening a palm. This seemed to make Starfire think about something as she had a look on her face of pure concentration.  
  
"I wouldn't know."  
  
"Okay, a serious question now. If I gave you an order which you disagreed with, would you follow it?"  
  
"Yes if I understood it. I'd do it but I wouldn't like doing it, as you are the leader. But I wouldn't do it if I didn't understand."  
  
"Right, and finally what are your feelings towards us in general? What do you feel when you look at us all?"  
  
"Well I mainly feel an attachment to you. You are my new friends and although you may be complicated beings I feel I can trust you... mostly. Now un-strap me please, this is starting to cut into my skin."  
  
"Well I suppose you pass. The egg question wasn't needed as you seem to eat anything." Robin untied the bindings and Nigel leapt up.  
  
"FREE!"  
  
"Not yet, we still have one round left."  
  
Beast Boy came back as an octopus, carrying with him eight trays of one dozen soy-sauce bottles, each. Nigel's heart plummeted. He had to prove himself in one final task? This was getting old and repetitive.  
  
"I ask that Starfire be removed from this activity, her condition and all."  
  
"You speak as if she's ill. Or has Fearless turned Fearful for his baby's health?"  
  
"Quiet you."  
  
"Can we skip this round? I've already done this at the restaurant we went to a few months ago." Nigel sighed, wanting to now go and rest up.  
  
"Besides there will be a monster in 5...4...3...2...1..." Nothing. Cyborg looked up and around, wondering what was going to happen, wondering if his watch was off. Then the alarm sounded. "So close."  
  
"Monster?" Nigel asked.  
  
"It's a sludge creature. The one that ALWAYS appears when we enlist a new member." Raven said, waiting at the computer, her make up a little smudged as she waited for the others with her other half.  
  
"Mortimer?" Gauntlet asked.  
  
"Yep." Raven replied. Robin was about to say something when he noticed something else. There was a slight pause before their leader broke the silence.  
  
"Raa, you realise that you're wearing a skintight costume?"  
  
"I always wear this."  
  
"But this time you forgot your bra." Beast Boy pointed out.  
  
She looked down and blushed before she ran off as quickly as possible, leaving the lads to fall over laughing. Looking unhappy, Noel got up. Gauntlet started to say something.  
  
"DON'T. Or I'll whip YOU." Savior growled, the Shimmer forming into a nasty looking cat o'nine tails. He followed Raven back to her room, where another argument ensued on who was at fault for this. Raven ended it by throwing a book at Noel with her power.  
  
"Why are you blaming ME? I take your clothes OFF, I don't put them ON, it's not up to me to dress you!"  
  
"You should have said something!"  
  
"I didn't notice!"  
  
"Oh how typical."  
  
"Look, forget this!" Noel yelled as Raven finished pulling her outfit back up. "Mortimer is back, we need to stop him, let's settle this later, lives are at stake! Now teleport us there!"  
  
"You got THAT wrong." Raven said, and disappeared into the shadows.  
  
"God dammit..." Noel said, and then a strange growling noise came out of his mouth as he tried to mimic one of the sounds he had heard repeatedly while Nigel was getting tortured, assuming it was a curse. Nigel nearly died laughing, and so did the others, when Nigel said Noel's human tongue had garbled it and basically told the curtains that he thought his own chest looked like a toilet. Noel just sighed and leapt out a window. Screw his fellows, he had to save the day.  
  
Just another normal day in Titan tower. And as per usual, Starfire and Nigel where left behind. Starfire for obvious reasons and Nigel because he wasn't a fully fledged member yet. Both stood there, as if they had run out of energy, their limbs hanging limply as they swayed slightly.  
  
"What about us?" They asked, before sighing. "Humans."  
  
----------------------------------------------------  
  
Longest chapter so far! Phew. That took a lot of effort! I hope this was okay, and at least a little humorous. See you in Chapter ten! 


	10. Time: 9:45 am

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-And  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide, but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
Chapter 10: 09:45 am  
  
Or  
  
I Have The Strangest Case of Déjà vu And I Must Say I Have The Strangest Case of Déjà vu....  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
"Alright Star, just say Ahh."  
  
Nigel, now officially a member of the Teen Titans, checked over the ever growing Starfire in the medical bay. It had been a month since the hazing and the day were they fought Mortimer. Again. Nigel had to be called to the scene in the end, as the Titan s were again lacking a gas tanker, and after all his blood seemed to be highly flammable, with little or rather no explanation on why it acted like napalm.  
  
Could have been worse. They may have to fight legal proceedings with the Physics Police again over the use of a fire extinguisher to start a fire.  
  
But in the end, his blood was used all the same, and it won the battle, with some rather intriguing questions as well as their leader's failed attempt to restrain his movement in case Nigel spontaneously combusted. After this, Robin trusted him with his 'delicate' girlfriend even less. But to be fair, Tim never really gave him a chance, despite his good points.  
  
Kory, on the other hand, felt a lot more comfortable going to see Nigel than a human doctor, because the one time Robin forced her to go to the doctor the Titans used to go see, people gawked at her all the way there and when she got into the doctor's office every journalist was waiting by the window and door to try and find out the latest. Even the doctor wasn't private about it, because he phoned all his colleagues to boast and to get advice. I suppose we can't blame him, how often did he get to examine a human/alien hybrid?  
  
But he went too far, as after he finished he started to talk to the press. Luckily though, Savior and Raven were in the area, and they had destroyed all the evidence of her ever being there, like cameras and note pads. Though it still ended up in the paper some how. The mass media. Gotta love 'em. At least, I suppose, it was a good thing they found the information leak so Robin doesn't have to watch Nigel to make sure that he isn't using the phone if you catch my drift.  
  
And so, for privacy's sake, Robin allowed Star to be examined by the 'glorified field medic' as he called Nigel, as long as he was present and that the doctor didn't try anything on her that might be dangerous, which was a ludicrous idea to start with, but then again, this was Robin after all. Let's not forget his Slade fugues.  
  
"Starfire, you and your unborn are both healthy." Nigel said, as he smiled lightly and looked over her shoulder. "Strange."  
  
"What is wrong?" She asked, starting to get a little worried all over again.  
  
"It's nothing, but Robin has left. He usually doesn't trust me enough to leave me alone in the same room as you." Nigel said. He placed down the small torch like object and took up what seemed to be some glasses with screens in them to get a close up view of everything he was looking at to aid his diagnostic. Starfire sighed a little.  
  
"I will try and talk with him again, but he does not understand that you can be trusted for some reason." Starfire stood up slowly from were she was sitting and brushed herself and her stomach off. Although only half way through pregnancy, the changes were still visible. She was in around month four or five and it was harder to hide as she had a bump now, which was quite in evidence, and she had started to change her eating habits even more and was eating mountains worth of food, which really put a dent in the Titans savings, line of credit from Batman or no, and also she would cry at almost anything sad. Teenage pregnancies are holiday homes for excessive emotions and hormone boosts that would kill a cow.  
  
Unfortunately, when you are part of a group of over-emotional teens, you don't notice anything out of the ordinary until it's too late. This is even more so when they have powers linked with their emotions. Once a certain someone said Starfire was putting on a little weight under the chin and she blasted him through a wall. Beast Boy has left intensive care now and is avoiding the pregnant Tamaranean like the bubonic plague. Gauntlet has also decided to steer clear of her, along with Cyborg, who might accidentally put his foot in it and get blasted through the window and land somewhere in Gotham city.  
  
At least some of the Titans were content. Raven has once again allowed Savior to come close to her, as it was too much effort not to do so, and so their typical dating couple thing started all over because right at this moment they were watching Man Bites Dog with Raven laying on the sofa using Noel's legs for a pillow. Nigel remained Nigel, and very secret about what he spends his spare time doing, but at this moment he was probably sharpening his claws or reading the large book on top of the tower. With the lack of female company he had little to do except read and improve his English. He remained ever hopeful that an earth woman might find him attractive, but he doubted it some how.  
  
Robin seems to be keeping very much to himself on a little project he has been working on in his spare time. Except for missions and meal times, little is seen from their 'benevolent' leader. This worried most of the group, because whenever they did see him he shrugged off their questions by saying he was busy or what not. Fine, but some of them had seen him lugging around spare parts to some kind of machine, and the parts that he took back and fourth seemed very familiar to some of the Titans.  
  
And then Starfire had unintentionally sneezed down a wall. At this point they figured something was up.  
  
"Yo Robin, can I ask of a..."  
  
"No, I'm very busy with a lead on a crime ring."  
  
"Hey Fearless, can you help with..."  
  
"Sorry, I have to go do something."  
  
"Good morning Robin, how was your..."  
  
"Ask me later Star, I'm busy."  
  
Yes, even Starfire was ignored by her own boyfriend. She was bearing his child and she was ignored. Something was defiantly wrong. And so, under cover of night, the Titans had decided to find out what was happening. And they did not like what they had found.  
  
"What are these pieces?" Nigel asked, kneeling down next to Savior and Starfire. Who promptly sneezed and nearly knocked them out.  
  
"''Cuse me." She blew her nose as they walked further into the room.  
  
"Dammit, I don't believe this. These are parts to Slade's Chronotron Destabiliser." Noel stated, marching his way through the room. This was where Robin had all his Slade stuff, the one with all the newspaper clipping on the walls and the desk in which to build things. Although it still has some of the Slade paraphernalia, some newer things covered most of the room, including the blue prints for the Chronotron Destabiliser with some minor modifications onto it. "This is bad."  
  
"What are you doing?" They all turned sharply around to find Robin standing there, the final piece in his hand.  
  
"Robin! I... We... I mean... Nothing! We saw no plans!" Starfire shouted, standing up straight. She was honestly trying her hardest to look inconspicuous. Of course it had the opposite effect, but at least she tried. Nigel sweatdropped, hoping to any god he could think of Robin wouldn't do something foolish. Noel just had a serious, grim look on his face.  
  
Robin didn't do anything foolish in the end, luckily. Instead he ran forward to try and find something on the desk, but what he was looking for wasn't there, then he looked up and a look of shock came upon his face.  
  
"Where is it?!" He leapt over the table and looked around the room, hoping for dear life for something. "What have you done with it?!" He demanded. Unfortunately the rest of the Titans had little or no clue what he meant, before he lifted the plans to show the three S's. "This!"  
  
"We have not touched those plans." Nigel said, even as he inexplicably lied about that as he poked the plans slightly with one of his claws.  
  
"I mean the actual device!"  
  
"We have not moved anything Robin, please believe us." Starfire pleaded, her hands clasped.  
  
"Robin, what the hell are..." Noel began.  
  
"How can I? I walk in here and it's gone!" Robin yelled, ignoring Noel. Starfire looked down at her feet and was a little teary eyed at his outburst, Robin looked a little worried as she started to sniff and recoiled when he tried to comfort her.  
  
"Great work Casanova." Noel muttered. "What a way to talk to a lady."  
  
"What were you doing that is so important that you must be mean at her and your unborn? Does shouting at expectant women help on this planet?" Nigel asked, folding his arms.  
  
"No, but I'd like to know the answer to your first question." Noel said. Both the men were glaring daggers at their leader, who at this rate might not be a leader for much longer if he keeps this up.  
  
"I was... working on something." He responded, trying not to give too much away of his plan.  
  
"With parts and plans involving a Chronotron Destabiliser?" Noel said, as he held up an orb, which seemed to be something quite vital, thought obviously spare. He was about to start yelling again when Starfire sneezed and nearly blew the door to the room off its hinges. The item they picked up must have been Metallic Chromium, as Starfire's sneezing became worse and worse, so much so they saw the rest of the Titans at the door in less than five minutes with the noise she made as Tim and Noel yelled at each other. Finally Tim noticed the others: Each of them wore a stern expression on their features, very unimpressed at the tone Robin took towards his so called 'friends'. Noel placed the sphere he had in his hand back down from where he had picked it up: some sort of tray shaped for it.  
  
"Ok. Enough farting around. We want the truth Robin, and we want it now." Cyborg stated harshly, making his way into the room, the rest of the Titans following.  
  
But something happened, something that none of them expected to happen. Lines from where the orb was appeared in blue, tracing across the floor and walls to form a pattern that was too intricate to make out.  
  
"What's happening?" Raven asked, her calm exterior still apparent while the others around her lost their heads in a preverbal sense at this sudden change. Beast Boy and Gauntlet dived for the door to try and get help to find out what was happening, but he bounced off some form of force field that now covered the entrance. Everything went white for a moment.  
  
Silence.  
  
-------------------------------  
  
"Alright Star, just say Ahh." Nigel checked over the ever-growing Starfire in the medical bay and paused. Something wasn't right.  
  
"Have we not done this before?" He asked before Cyborg rushed into the room, closely followed by Beast Boy in the form of an owl.  
  
"Err...What just happened?" The changeling asked, reforming back into a human shape. Nigel placed down the torch thing he had in his hand and turned to them, a confused expression on his face.  
  
"What is the time?" He asked as Cyborg looked on the clock on his arm.  
  
"Something must be busted. It said it's nine forty five this morning." He replied, tapping his arm slightly before continuing. "But that's impossible...unless..."  
  
"Unless Robin was recreating the Chronotron Destabiliser to try and go back in time for some reason." Noel said. Raven and Savior strolled back in, a serious look on their faces.  
  
"But why would Robin do such a thing? Robin would not endanger us so." Starfire said, as she tried to reassure them. Or maybe she was reassuring herself? I don't think with his recent behaviour she even believed herself on that fact.  
  
A tap on the window drew her out of her thoughts and she walked over to open it.  
  
"Sorry I'm late." Gauntlet said. The last missing member clambered through the window, the G on his shirt a little mucky for some reason or another, looked mostly like oil.  
  
"Damn it Gauntlet! Why can't you do what normal people do and use the door?!" Noel shouted, gesturing to the large, open doorway.  
  
"Because I'm not a normal person! Next question please?"  
  
"Why is your T-shirt dirty?"  
  
"I've been fiddling with the T-Car." He announced proudly, placing his fists on his hips and nodding his head. Unfortunately not everyone was as proud of his achievement as he was.  
  
"MY BABY! What did you do with it?!" Cyborg yelled, as he dashed towards him quicker than Raven could teleport and shook him like a person would shake a Furby to shut it up. Although in my experience that would just make it go "WHEEEEEE! Again!" more.  
  
"We have more important things to worry about at the moment." Raven said as she rose up between them to try and break Cyborg's death grip on Gauntlet. Rob just gasped for air whenever he got the opportunity.  
  
"But you built that car too!" He protested, before his hold was finally broken and a sense of order was restored, even if it was unrecognisable at first glance. They all agreed on one thing though, and that was that they had gone back in time. How and why was still a mystery, but they knew Robin was behind it all. One second they had all been in the room, and the next Beast Boy was on the phone to Charm, Cyborg was watching a DVD in his room, Raven and Noel were watching Man Bites Dog, or rather Noel was as Raven was asleep at the time and we know what Gauntlet did, or rather was doing, exactly when the time had been nine forty-five.  
  
Eventually, after searching the entire tower, they found that Robin was nowhere to be seen, and whatever the event that had happened, it meant that he was outside of the tower when it happening... and if that made any sense at all can you contact me please, I lost myself. Well whatever!  
  
The point is that Robin was not in the tower during the day, only at night when everything got turned on its head. This was especially unsettling as he did not return on the appointed hour just before everything went to heck. They figured the loop couldn't happen if they left the orb alone, as that orb had seemed to activate something. Exactly what, they weren't sure, but it had done so all the same, and so they waited patiently, watching it in the room.  
  
Robin did not return, and despite the fact there was another blinding light, and once again Nigel found himself checking Starfire's throat, Beast Boy on the phone to Charm, Cyborg watching a DVD, Savior and Raven spending some quality time, and Gauntlet fiddling with the T-Car.  
  
So they tried again, and decided that to stop this, they would need to prevent whatever had been taken that Robin had been so upset about from being taken, and so they broke into Robin's research room prematurely and waited there. Unfortunately this didn't help as the machine just whirled up and vanished, locked into its predestined fate. Soon enough the appointed hour came again and the orb lit up and yet another bright light happened and faded and Nigel was once again looking down Starfire's throat. .  
  
"Alright Star, just say Ahh." Nigel checked over the ever growing Starfire in the medical bay and paused. With an annoyed growl he placed down the equipment and walked out the medical bay to find the others.  
  
Everything was as expected, they had gone back in time again but that wasn't the only weird thing. They turned on to the local news and they had found that it wasn't just them, but the entire city that had gone crazy. Every newspaper said that today was actually yesterday and the time on all the clocks was 9:45 am.  
  
In other words, everything was going back in time, not just the Titans.  
  
"I think the only thing that can stop this is if we find whatever Robin was building and destroy it." Raven said, taking the lead.  
  
"Who said you was in charge?" Cyborg demanded, stepping forward to challenge her leadership. A cold harsh look appeared in her eyes, directed straight at Cyborg. There was a brief pause before he fell back in line. A stifled laugh came from next to her.  
  
"Wohpah." Noel muttered lightly before they continued onwards into the city, flying, walking or running, as they tried to find Robin and fix this real life Groundhog Day.  
  
------------------------------------  
  
"It will take us forever to find it; we can't search the whole city in one day! No, less than that actual! Twelve hours! Half a day!" Beast Boy shouted, his albatross form searching the sky.  
  
"All we have to do is search all the large warehouses and buildings, and when the loop starts again we start from were we left off." Savior called, swinging from building to building Spiderman style to assist in possible locations. Nigel too was with this group, but he didn't say much. Instead he was doing his super jump thing to keep up, leaping from tall building to tall building in a Matrix fashion, sometimes causing a small dent in the roof when he landed. They chose to search in columns; three would search in one side, while four would look on the other side of the city and close in on each other, sharing any news they would get later.  
  
"Hey, I see Mumbo!" Beast Boy shouted, changing into an owl to try and get a better look at him, and it was indeed the Amazing Mumbo, running full pelt down the road. "Should we get him?"  
  
"Why bother? It's only going to be undone next time around." Noel replied, managing to shrug in mid air.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"When we go back in time, we keep going back to when none of this has happened yet, so even if we take him in now, when we go back in time he will still be running down the road because that is what he was doing at ten o'clock. And even if we catch him again, well, lather, rinse, repeat." Noel said. He stopped a second, looking down. "Besides, your girlfriend is chasing him."  
  
Beast Boy looked down and blushed a bright red. Indeed, hot on his trail was Charm, who was almost floating to move faster. They carried on looking, so perhaps we should we now check on the others.  
  
"Are you sure you can do this Starfire?" Raven asked, flying with Starfire.  
  
"I am fine going forward and down, it's just going up that might prove a problem." Starfire said, as she smiled lightly. The girls flew together, Raven supporting the weight of Kory as they looked. A part of Raven wanted to let go, because she was actually very heavy, but she didn't want to spend a month in traction like Beast Boy did if she angered the pregnant alien.  
  
Cyborg was on the ground with Gauntlet searching for anything suspicious. While Cyborg was still mad, he liked Robert's detective abilities. The teen had suggested that what they were looking for might not be visible, so look out for people who look like they were trying to hide something.  
  
Unfortunately that was making the hot dog vendor looked apprehensive, so he demanded a free hot dog with everything to make sure he was guilt free and without crime related shame. He'd do anything for something free... except pay of course. Unfortunately before they realised night had crawled up on them.  
  
Flash.  
  
"See anything?"  
  
Flash  
  
"Nothing."  
  
Flash  
  
"Notice anything yet?"  
  
Flash  
  
"Yes, falling while jumping hurts..."  
  
Flash  
  
"One hot dog please. Payment? How do I know you are not selling cheep-ass hot dogs?"  
  
Flash  
  
"Yes Charm, yes. I love you too. Bye."  
  
Flash.  
  
Nigel and Starfire made their way to the lounge to see everyone watching a movie, which wasn't Man Bites Dog. That had wound up Noel to quite an extent (he thought that it was a good lesson for people to watch a movie like that), so at the moment it was 'Nightmare before Christmas' by that Tim Burton fellow, whoever he might be in this realm.  
  
"What are you doing?" She asked lightly, sitting down in a large chair with a big pillow ready.  
  
"We are taking this loop out, to recover." Cyborg replied, chomping on a sandwich. Nigel sat and started to snack as well. They waited till the film finished and then started to move.  
  
"I've realized something." Gauntlet started, standing up with an alarming pace as if he was mulling through something.  
  
"That you make a better door then a window?"Noel asked incredulously, trying to think what to watch next.  
  
"No, we can do things without being bothered by the consequences!" He replied.  
  
Some puzzlement, and then a smile came across most of their faces at the realization of it all; however the two aliens didn't understand at all and looked at him, their head tilted. And Noel as, per usual, didn't look happy at this sudden revelation.  
  
"What?" Nigel said.  
  
"Well seeing as each time you go backwards in a loop we start the day again, we can do whatever we want without having to deal with the repercussions of our actions as when we start a new day we start at nine in the morning on the same day, while everything we did, say at noon, is undone. Even effects done onto us would be undone!" Robert explained. Noel smacked his face into his palm: of all the tricky concepts of life, Robert had to figure THIS one out.  
  
But there was no change in the pair's expression.  
  
"Think if it this way. If you went in another loop, and in this loop you threw a coin and it hit a person in the head, when the loop started over that man wouldn't know that you threw a coin at him because it never happened. Understand?"  
  
"No."  
  
"We can do what we want because when the loops start again, they won't have happened!"  
  
There was a pause, before Nigel gave a scary toothy grin as he too got the picture.  
  
"Oh let us have some fun."  
  
"Where did we all go wrong?" Noel agonized. He wondered if he should resist or just go with it. In the end he grudgingly went with it.  
  
What followed were many jumps through time, and many events, but I can't tell you about everything. So I'll stick with one. I could tell you about the supposed suicide attempt by Savior, who threatened that if he did not get a PA system to read his astoundingly bad poetry to the world, he would jump off the edge. Of course they did it, but he jumped anyway. Not like he could get hurt: his Shimmer instinctively protected him.  
  
Or when Beast Boy decided it would be fun to unlock all the cages at the Zoo in protest to his furry friends being locked away. He made a note to do that when the time was right and when time had settled itself.  
  
Starfire had gotten in the papers one day for getting stuck on a construction site after playing 'tag' with the other Titans. Small pipe and a large Starfire didn't usually go together.  
  
There was the event were all the Titans dressed in cosplay to save the day and they drew from a hat. It was quite funny as Raven was forced to do her hair in the style of Yuna, while Beast Boy had to go as an Anime girl, sailor suit and all! At least Noel was content, he looked very good as Vash The Stampede... Nigel wasn't, he stole one of his best coats to do it.  
  
Or perhaps when Cyborg went and got the highest score ever possible on a game that he had mastered, everything falling place as he scored over 100 million points, but of course the big flash happened and it was lost, never to be recovered again... But on with the story...  
  
Flash.  
  
"I have always wanted to do this." Raven said, as she made her way into an all you can eat restaurant and sat down, waiting to be served.  
  
"Miss R-Raven, it's a p-pleasure to serve a Titan, what will y-you be having?" A nervous young waitress asked, walking over to the celebrity, her hand shaking as she went to take down the order.  
  
"Everything."  
  
"E-everything?" The waitress asked.  
  
"Everything." She replied, taking off her belt. Raven, being a part of the Teen Titans, in a relationship, AND a half demon sorceress, never really allowed herself to eat too much. Apart from the fact it was a foolish idea because she was needed on the team to run around and fight bad guys and when you eat a lot you put on weight, and when you do that you become slower and more useless. She didn't want to do that, because overindulgence was classified not only as an emotion, but a sin, and since sinning was part of her 'Fathers' category of things she would not do, she did not do it...but seeing as nothing will take effect and Trigon has been locked away...  
  
"Oh and the biggest glass of coke possible."  
  
"That is two and a half pints Miss."  
  
"Please."  
  
"Y-yes Miss!" Oh this might be fun.  
  
On the other side of town, clad in checkered trousers, a tank top sweater with a shirt underneath and a flat cap, Nigel placed a golf ball onto a tee and swung for dear life at it, knocking it quite far from the top of the building in which they stood.  
  
"Am I doing this correctly?" He asked himself, taking out a manual and looking at it, which happened to be 'How to Learn Golf' in an ACME kind of way. "At least it's the right comic company."  
  
Not you too... Savior and Gauntlet put you up to fourth wall breaking didn't they?  
  
"Not really, I was feeling left out." He said, as he put the book in his back pocket and raced toward 3rd and Main to take the next shot.  
  
Starfire, who happened to be in a store on the corner of 3rd street, was trying on all new maternity clothing, floating over to search for new things to see what worked well with what and so on and so forth.  
  
"I didn't realise that one of the Titans was..." The store manager said. He had started talking to Star's personal assistant. Seeing as Kory was such a celebrity, the store decided it was in their best interests to keep her happy long enough for the press to get there. Unfortunately a protest of some kind down the road and everyone was there so it may take a while.  
  
"Excuse me, I would like this zipped at the back, however I can not reach. Please assist me." The Titan asked, trying to reach around with little or no luck for the awkwardly placed zipper. With a sharp sound, it was done, and Starfire admired her new look. Her long hair was done up in a high ponytail as she styled the new fashion for celebrity mothers who want to look good. It was a high, close collar dinner dress with what looked like an oriental motif on the front. The arms were cut and the dress stopped at her knees. It was in blues and purples with a wonderfully done golden rim.  
  
"Very nice choice Miss Starfire, it's made of a lovely material and can be worn in most of the pregnancy."  
  
"Most of?"  
  
"You may not be able to fit into it when you are full term of course, however we..."  
  
"I'll take it." A boom was heard outside just as she cut off the manager's grovelling. It had been a very expensive dress, and she wanted to sell it to this very naive superhero because then it would classify as her finest sell, and for the label on it she would get a Christmas bonus for three years that was larger than most people's pay checks. But for now, they all looked outside to see a slight dent in the road works, and no sooner did the dust clear did Nigel come and land next to his ball, grabbing a four iron to get it to the next part of the city. "Having fun Scalpel?"  
  
"Yes, but Earth games are hard to learn!" He called back, pulling the manual out from his pocket and studying it again, before replacing it and teeing off towards the town hall. Starfire turned her attentions back to the dress and how it looked.  
  
"It makes me seem like a fal'nak balloon beast." She said lightly, re- evaluating what it looked like on her, her tone that of someone a little annoyed, or more over peeved.  
  
"But a second ago you said..." The manager's slimy behaviour stopped when the thought of Starfire not taking the dress entered her mind.  
  
"I know. I'll take it." She replied, walking over to the dressing rooms to change, leaving a very confused looking assistant and manager there.  
  
Pregnant women, so much trouble at times.  
  
At city hall, three of the Titans stood there marching in a circle, with the media on them. A well-dressed young adult stood in front of the camera before starting.  
  
"Hello, I'm Sarah Cambell coming to you live from Jump City Hall, where today an unprecedented event has occurred. The Teen Titans, Jump City's defenders of truth and justice, are now protesting in front of us as we speak. Although only three of them are visible to us, Cyborg, Beast Boy and a newer member Gauntlet, they assure us that the others are away discussing terms with the men and women in charge of this fair city." And she would be right. Mostly. The green one, the tin man and the crooked protector stood there with placards and banners calling for reform in the system. "Live with me now is the Titan Beast Boy. Mr. Beast Boy, why are you and the others 'on strike'?"  
  
"If you have noticed, every civil service has been paid for, except Super Heroes! The fire fighters, the ambulance workers, even the police, who seem to be now a purely optional function, get, at least, a pension and/or insurance."  
  
"But you are heroes, you are not suppose to strike." She reassured herself.  
  
"They say that to police officers, students, everyone. So this time..." He slammed the end of the placard down on the ground. "It's our turn."  
  
"We need more time to learn things like the harpsichord!" Gauntlet shouted from behind.  
  
"Some people say that you are not really working, but going out and having fun, and therefore do not get paid." She said as she replaced the microphone next to his mouth.  
  
"Well I suppose the battle wounds are just for having fun. I suppose one of us nearly dying of blood loss is just for fun, and I suppose our home being destroyed every five minutes to save our city is 'just for fun' as well! Let me tell you something! This is totally weak!" He started to shout. Although these were partly his real feelings, it was all in good fun, and it was good to get it off his chest because no one would remember it next time around.  
  
A boom was heard and Nigel once again hit the road area, this time getting a driver that gave a more sideways arc rather than an upward one, hitting his ball again. Beast Boy and the others watched it fly by. "Sweet shot. Anyway, what I was saying..."  
  
In a near by art store, Noel Collins, AKA Savior, was doing something he never thought he might be able to do with the Shimmer. Making pottery, and doing terribly at it at that.  
  
"Very good Mr Titan, are you sure you are not a natural?"  
  
"Empty flattery won't get you anywhere." Noel looked at the mess in front of him as he started to use the Shimmer to guide the soon-to-be-pot's movement. Noel had never been very artistic, not in the practical sense at any rate, and now he had the time to try and bone up on his knowledge without worrying he would be interrupted because even if he was, it wouldn't matter. After five or ten minutes, a relative pot shape was starting to form from the pile of earthenware clay on the turntable.  
  
(Just so you know, there are many different types of clay, the basic ones are laid out for you now. The white clay is Porcelain, very fine clay that is 100% pure and very hard and expensive to work with. The next clay is Terracotta, it's the clay that is made for roof tiles in Spanish villas and out door pots which turns orange/red when fired. The next is Earthenware and Stoneware. These are used for more general things and are the basic clays for schools and outdoor pots and sculptures. The last, and used for more study models, is Crank and has dried clay shards in it to give it strength. Why do I know this? Simple.  
  
They forced it into my head at AVCE art and design...)  
  
Again fate spat in Noel's face as an ever-familiar golf ball landed in the art store. Seeing as it passed through the window, through to the back and through his pot, it was a surprisingly efficient way to cause destruction, as Noel, startled, instinctively pressed his foot down on the pedal and...well, you've seen Ghost, think about it.  
  
Covered in clay, Noel stood up. If anyone has ever used clay before, you will know that it does not go well with white or light colours, and seeing as the golf ball going forward, plus the energy put into the spinning of the pot caused the same effect as a 'Sonic Boom'. In simple terms, Savior was covered head to toe, and he didn't look good.  
  
"Sorry Savior."  
  
The golf ball came back out at full speed and hit Nigel right between the eyes, making a small 'Pok' noise as it did so, which caused the new Titan to step back a little holding the bridge of his nose.  
  
"As a penalty, add five shots to your score." Noel replied grimly.  
  
"But then I will not get the large winged creature I need to complete this game!"  
  
"You do not actually get a Eagle, it's a term."  
  
"I do not understand."  
  
"I'll explain it to you later. Just take the shot from there." He pointed to where the ball landed, a few feet away. "What are you trying to do anyway?" He asked, removing some of the clay from his face and hair. It will take days to wash it out completely. But as he was in the time loop it didn't matter.  
  
"I'm trying to find all the Titans and return home while golfing." He replied simply, grinning widely at his friend, who had the best 'I am not impressed' look on his face of anyone you have or have not seen.  
  
"Golfing for Titans?"  
  
"Yes, indeed it sounds like a strange concept, however I feel that it will improve not only my strength, but my knowledge of the city. It's also quite entertaining! So I may as well, how you humans say, go for broke?" He pulled out a one wood and swung, much to Noel's surprise, much harder than expected, making it fly. He watched were it landed and jumped away, leaving Noel to explain why a Titan had just demolished the front of a store in the name of entertainment.  
  
Back onto the side of town in which we had started, and seeing that a few hours had passed, we find Raven in the middle of her large feast. The restaurant had been cleared out by this time as they could not support such a large order and have everyone else ordering this that and everything, which meant not only was Raven letting herself go for once, and enjoying it, she was also all on her own to relax and take it easy.  
  
Unfortunately she saw the flaw in her plan. When she said she wanted everything on the menu, she didn't actually look at the size of the menu, which happened to be around 8 standard sized pages long, and so she now has in front of her a week's supply of food that all the Titans would have trouble on, all to herself.  
  
And Beast Boy thought he had the ultimate overindulgence challenge...  
  
So there she sat, feeling bloated and looking a little too full, trying her hardest to fit it all in. Unfortunately the expression 'hollow legs' didn't apply to poor Raven, so why on earth did she try this? Simple, because she didn't have a good enough reason not to. She finished off the last of the BBQ chicken legs and sat back while rubbing her aching stomach, trying to breath through the sauce covered mouth. Lets hope she doesn't do a repeat of this woman who accidentally killed herself because she ate so much her stomach expanded and stopped her diaphragm from moving, meaning she couldn't breath.  
  
"You realize that if you do not finish, you WILL have to pay, Titan or not." The waitresses stood there, waiting with a bottle of cola, fresh napkins and a bill and mints (just in case). So Raven had one of three choices, 1) Finish the meal and throw up, 2) stall them for time till the loop starts again, or 3) pay up. The last one wasn't really a good choice but it may happen all the same.  
  
Like with her other half, an all too familiar sound was approaching, a kind of sound made by a falling motor shell or, in this case, golf ball. Raven was far too groggy with all the food to even utter her favourite words, besides her cheeks were too full and tired from all the chewing. And so, out of the sky and making a hole in the ceiling, the familiar golf ball came crashing down, smashing into the table and hitting the edge of some plates, which not only covered the Titan with food, but the waitresses as well. Raven wiped her face clean and leaned back. Soon enough the ever curious Nigel wandered to the hole and looked in.  
  
"Sorry about that Raven." He commented before making his merry way around to the door. Making a grand entrance, he searched for his golf ball.  
  
"What are you wearing?" She managed to ask, looking over to see all the tacky golfing gear he wore.  
  
"I thought this was traditional golfing equipment on this planet." He replied, turning, before stifling a laugh and regaining his composure. "Now answer me dear lady; what, pray tell, are you wearing?"  
  
"I think it was a pepperoni pizza." She replied plainly, picking a bit of meat of the 'Raven' emblem and swallowing it whole.  
  
"Aha! I have found the Sphere!" He clambered up onto the table, his claws slipping slightly on some spilt jelly while he placed his one wood in a bowl of sticky toffee pudding. "Nerts." He simply said before pulling out from his bag-o-tricks a sand-wedge and prepared to swing.  
  
"WHAT the HELL do you think you are doing?!" The manager bellowed as he stormed into the room while Nigel was in mid swing, forcing the Blacktrinian to miss and fall over face first into the 7th course.  
  
"I was winding up for a swing!" He shouted back, pepper sauce all down his face and stylish knitwear jumper. And so, he took the shot again, this time sending it as hard as he could in a random direction. "Now look what you made me do!" He shouted, jumping off the table. "I have to find that so if you excuse me." He barged past the manager, grabbing a napkin from one of the waitresses and stormed out, leaving Raven to try and continue on.  
  
"A friend?" The manager asked, agitated as he approached the young Titan. Raven unfortunately was feeling far too sick to move so she sat there helpless as the now angered manager walked slowly up to her like some cheep suspense movie.  
  
"Oh joy."  
  
---------------------------------------  
  
Time had passed on with that particular day, and the elusive ball had only just been found. Obviously the over powered shot had been sloppy and hit somewhere in the middle of the city, but it was rather dense wherever it was. Day had become night, but still there was nothing. Nigel had to try and find the ball and hit it hard back to the Tower or he would never live it down after all the trouble he had caused, especially with Raven and Savior.  
  
Luckily, all his searching paid off, and he found the ball on top of a small warehouse to the south. The only problem was it had been torn in half by something or other, maybe some kind of blade. Scalpel's ears fell a little at the annoyance of it all, all day he went to find the Titans and after all that he would have to take a relief shot.  
  
"Sorry Mumbo."  
  
His lowered ears perked up again at the sound of a very familiar voice, cold as ice but much younger than most voices that tone. The doctor took it upon himself to look into the situation and removed the soiled jumper he wore and climbed down the building to see, using his claws to act as climbing pegs.  
  
"I finally found it!" He said. The figure's watch bleeped lightly and he growled. "I took too long. At least the others didn't find it before I did."  
  
"Robin!"  
  
The figure turned.  
  
Flash  
  
Nigel cut himself short while looking down Star's throat. She looked at him with a puzzled look on her face as he wandered around, almost as if he was trying to get his bearings. He then pointed in a direction and paused as Beast Boy wandered in with Cyborg, holding out a maternity swim suit for Star and a pair of black and white swim shorts.  
  
"Who wants to go to the beach?!" They shouted as more of a statement than a question.  
  
"I know where Robin is." Nigel said softly, double checking where he had gone in his head. A shocked look came upon them at this point, then a look of confusion.  
  
"How the hell do you just know?" Cyborg asked indignantly, removing the sunglasses from his face and stared him down.  
  
"Simple, when I was golfing I lost the spherical object you hit and when I found it again, it was cut in two. Now that I think about it, it had slight shards of red on it. But I heard a noise, and went down and I saw a long nosed, blue skinned man being dragged over to the machine on the blue prints by Robin."  
  
"A long nosed, blue skinned man?" Starfire asked, getting who he meant.  
  
"Mumbo!"  
  
So it was a race against time, because from what Nigel had told them Robin had seen him just before the loop started over, which means Robin would be thinking what they were thinking and try to reach it with all due speed, and the winner would be whoever reached it first.  
  
Robin, surprisingly, had three advantages. He was closer because he was on the main land when the loop started while the others were on the island. The second advantage was the fact that he was on his own and was quite fast on the ground and through the air, jumping from building to building, while the others had to move as a group and some of them couldn't fly, plus with the added bonus of a pregnant Tamaranean which meant not only did they go slower but the 'get a lift with the alien' card was no longer in play. And one final thing that helped Robin no end was, of course, was one of the trademarks traits of the Blacktrinians; apart from their massive strength, appearance and inability to swim.  
  
And that was Nigel's lack of a sense of direction.  
  
So Robin had enough time to reach the warehouse several times over, do what he needed to do to fulfil his plan, and get out of there.  
  
But, finally, fate and karma decided to gang up on the fearless leader and throw a preverbal spanner in the works because Robin didn't factor in that Charm, Beast Boy's ever elusive girlfriend, playing hero to try and stop the magician which in turn made him late, but luckily not too late as he burst in the door and locked it tightly, sighing with relief.  
  
"Thank god for small favours." He muttered to himself, leaning on the door, completely oblivious to who was there with him. With a swift flick of the wrist, Mumbo produced his wand and in another equally quick movement with some cliché magician's words, the Chronotron device that Robin had built miraculously appeared in a cloud of smoke. "With that little urchin out of the way I can finally find out what this device does. It looks pretty important." He pondered slightly before a shadow appeared behind him and grab his wand.  
  
"More important than you know!" Robin yelled, as he snatched the wand, snapped it and threw it away. Nothing happened.  
  
"Aha! But I have a better plan! My wand is only for show for I now posses Wand-like gloves!" He flexed his fingers as if to show off the white, pristine gloves on them, their stiff movement showed that there may have been wiring of sorts laced through them. Robin wasn't impressed, and with one quick swing of his staff, he knocked the middle aged man unconscious.  
  
"Just shut up already." He almost pleaded, before making his way over to the machine. Finally his plan would come to fruition and life will be returned to normal. He started slowly by removing the panel on the base of the machine and pulled out a new piece that looked like it slotted into the gap that was now there. All he had to do now was get back to the Tower and enter his room, and then all that was left was to activate the machine and everything will work out fine.  
  
At least that was the plan for when he turned around he slammed straight into the rest of the Titans, who stood there, Cyborg in the front, the rest fanning out in an arrow.  
  
"Hey there Robin, what'cha doing?" Cyborg asked, a serious expression on his features, which all the Titans mirrored.  
  
"Just disarming the bomb." He replied simply. "It won't do us any harm." He thumbed back, keeping the cool and calm expression on his face the whole time. The Titans' expressions never changed.  
  
"If I believed that, I don't think we would have come all this way." The larger teen stated, staring down into the blank eyes of his leader, whose eyes just stared straight back. "What's the deal?" He asked again, this time wanting an answer he could believe.  
  
"Well if you must know." He started. "I want to go back and change something that should never have happened."  
  
"And what might that be, if we don't know already." Beast Boy said from next to him. Luckily Starfire wasn't there yet, so Robin could speak his mind.  
  
"Teenagers are not supposed to have babies! Especially not mine while I'm part of a super hero group!"  
  
"And you're only realizing this now, when you could have taken several precautions to avoid this earlier? You selfish son of a bitch." Savior spat, not caring that Nigel was in earshot. Then again considering the size of his hearing devices, he would be in earshot from surprisingly far away, but back to the point.  
  
"Say what you will." Robin replied, not surprised at his outburst. "You just wait and see what happens when Raven goes off and decides to have a baby."  
  
Savior hissed at this remark and was about to retort, but he was cut off by a faint growl.  
  
"Foolish human! You need a male AND a female to have offspring! Raven can't have a baby by herself!" Nigel shouted, from the back.  
  
"I can't say I blame your outburst, after all this is technically your fault." Robin folded his arms and stared at the back of the group. "I went through your medical records. You know why the Blacktrinians have to take over everything to survive? It's because in their food there is a plant, which I couldn't read the name of. This plant has medicinal properties of regeneration and fertility. It causes your reproduction cycle to go so fast that you need to conquer other planets simply for the space." He scowled. "In other words your breakfast made sure she became pregnant, despite the medicine on this planet to stop it!"  
  
"How dare you!" Nigel shouted, unfortunately it was in his natural tongue so no one understood him, but they could tell he was annoyed all the same as he had started to lunge at their so called leader. Luckily for Robin, Noel and Rob where there to hold him back. "What a bag of ill truths! There was none of that plant in the meal! It only grows on the home world!"  
  
"You leave him out of this! You would blame him if the world suddenly caught on fire." Beast Boy yelled, folding his arms.  
  
"Err... BB? His blood acts like napalm." Cyborg whispered quietly.  
  
"... Bad example." He paused. "This is between you and Starfire! Leave Nigel and Raven out of this! If she was having a baby she would deal with it in a cool and level headed manner! Like she sorts everything out!"  
  
Raven, just so you know, wasn't there yet: she was helping Starfire fly there, as on her own she couldn't keep up and they didn't want to teleport, who knows what effect that would have on her. Better safe than sorry.  
  
"Yeah, who died and made you god?" Gauntlet shouted in his never serious manner. For once, Savior agreed with him. Each part of the plan was coming together, slowly, but they didn't know what Robin planned to do about it.  
  
"I am more than a god; I'm the leader of the Titans." He spat back at them, extending his staff into a battle ready position. "And no one can interrupt my plan, not even my friends!" The others did not move.  
  
"Dear lord, how did it ever come to this?" Savior muttered.  
  
"Man, listen to yourself!" Cyborg stepped forward, tensing for possible battle. "You sound like Slade."  
  
Robin's eyes widened in anger as his grip tightened.  
  
"I told you not to compare me to him! He's an insane psycho! I'm trying to right a wrong that should never have occurred!"  
  
"By going back in time to kill a baby?" Beast Boy jumped in. "Or don't you remember the reason he built this machine? It was to go back in time and rewrite our histories for destroying his son's pride!"  
  
"If anything Robin, with this idea you're at least as bad as he is." Savior said, walking forward through the crowd. "You didn't even ask Starfire if she wanted the baby. How do you think she will react when she finds out that you don't like it? You think she hasn't become attached to the thing inside her?"  
  
"If Starfire has that baby is or not is not open for discussion."  
  
"I think it is." A woman's voice said from behind him and stood there was Starfire with Raven. Star looked like she wanted to cry, but was fighting it back with every ounce of strength she had. The others knew that this was a matter between Robin and Starfire, so they silently agreed not to interfere. Too much.  
  
"Star-" Robin began.  
  
He was cut off by a slap that echoed through the room, leaving some of the Titans to cringe at both the sound and the position of Robin's head. She had hit him so hard he nearly fell over, and was still only on his feet because his armoured toes kept him on the ground. The reaction from the usually happy and tranquil Starfire shocked everyone in a visible way, even Raven showed a look of pure surprise. None of them had ever expected her to use such force, but it wasn't too surprising as she did just hear her own boyfriend say he wanted to kill her first child.  
  
Now I hear you ask, considering what this had led to, why couldn't she just get an abortion? Well they tried but Nigel refused. Despite their high birth-rate, Blacktrinians believe having a child is a privilege and an honour, and should not be disturbed and when they went to human doctors they said it was far too late to do anything. This leads us to where we are now. It was a real shame that they took so long trying to convince the young doctor, as if they hadn't they might have been able to continue on.  
  
"I want to know why!" She demanded, her hand still where it was after the slap for a moment or two, before it returned to her side, shaking violently and clenched in to a fist that could very well spark a star bolt at any moment. Robin looked back at her, more surprised than the others were, and now sporting a large red mark on his face. Her angry expression looked like it could change at any moment into full-on tears.  
  
"It's just not right Star." He said, his tone much softer, as he withdrew his staff.  
  
"Why?" She asked, her aggressive standing also coming down a few pegs, but her never blinking eyes, usually soft and caring, were now like daggers piercing her boyfriend to the core.  
  
"You have your whole life ahead of you, it's not right to have a baby at your age." Robin almost pleaded with her, trying to make her understand the truths behind it all, but this line of argument was not working.  
  
"I have a feeling that isn't the only reason." Raven commented plainly, trying to force Robin into saying what he felt, not just what he knew. He growled at her intervention but nodded all the same. Some times, the truth hurts.  
  
"It's true." He paused and, double-checking that Mumbo was unconscious and the windows were closed and covered, he took off his mask so he could look at her in the eyes. "I would be happy being Tim, teenage father, but I can't deal with being Robin, teenage father. People can't just only use it as a way to get to me, but also I think this baby might tear the Titans apart. The constant distractions, the wake up calls in the middle of the night, all the hardships that arise from having a child. So I built this to try and keep us together." He said, gesturing towards the device.  
  
"Oh I get it now. You rebuilt this sucker in order to go back and prevent you two from having the baby in the first place, by any means possible." Cyborg stated, finally realizing what he had planned to do.  
  
"Sugar coating the truth with noble intentions." Nigel stated, his arms folded and his back to Robin. Gauntlet, actually doing something that might turn out to be half sensible, turned the alien around to face the rest of the group and walked out front, slowly and casually like he always did;  
  
"Well then, now that we know what's what, I vote we try and put this whole thing behind us. After all, at this point, words aren't any good."  
  
"Stay out of it Gauntlet, please just stay out of it. This is not a situation that favors you." Noel begged to himself quietly, hoping that he would just back away now that he had said his piece. He didn't.  
  
"We now know what he wants to do, and we know in our mind it's wrong." He continued. Robin was about to reply but he cut him off "Now before you start going on about how you were right, let me just put something to you A- Capi-tan. You said it yourself that you were taught to respect life, and, if possible, never take one." He started to move in his oh-so erratic way, his arms outstretched and upwards, as if to emphasise his point. "Yet that thing in there-" He paused as he lightly poked Starfire's stomach. "Is a living, breathing thing. Okay it isn't breathing yet, otherwise it would drown but you know what I mean! So technically, you are going against what you believe in." He finished. "Beat that!" He re-finished in his typical mannerism, looking so tempted to do the John Cena 'you can't see me' taunt. He couldn't just be serious and let it end like that.  
  
But he did get through to him, and that was what he was trying to do. He even surprised Savior at his outburst. Fairly intellectual. If he was like that all the time they might actually get along. Maybe.  
  
Robin seemed to be forced deep into thought. Did it strike a nerve in Fearless?  
  
"Oh." Starfire said lightly, holding her stomach. They looked up at her, wondering if something was wrong, but there was something on her face that they hadn't seen all day. A smile. She made her way slowly towards Robin, her hands never leaving her stomach and the soft, loving smile never leaving her face. "The baby kicked, want to see?" With alarming speed, she reached out and took his hand and placed it onto her 'bump'. Robin was speechless for a moment or two.  
  
Before he pulled his hand away with a sharp impunity that he didn't want to show. He almost had a snarl on his face as he turned from her. Starfire's face, less than five seconds ago a warm, loving smile, now wore a sharp state of shock as she realized that her boyfriend had just snatched his hand back away from her.  
  
"Sorry, but as a leader I must be unwavering in my decision." He said. He started to walk away.  
  
"So that's it then?" Raven asked, straightening her cloak. "Robin, the fearless leader of the Titans is just going to walk away?"  
  
There was no response.  
  
"I hope you realise that these actions have torn you away from the group you were so willing and desperate to protect." Nigel spat. Again with no reply. This just angered the alien more, as he kicked down the door and stormed out, his thick cape fluttering in the wind. One by one, the Titans followed him, leaving Robin alone in the world of his own devising.  
  
"It will be better this way." He said as the last of them left. Raven stayed till last.  
  
"It seems like so long ago that we formed this team, when I formed this team. Yet I felt that you could be the leader we needed, you had compassion and a level head, alongside training and experience. What happened to that young man I asked to lead me all those years ago?" She finally asked, before she escorted the expectant Kory out. The princess looked back quickly to see him, but all she saw was his back.  
  
Now all that was left was to wait for the 'new future'.  
  
But something happened to Robin, something unexplainable. The Titans had struck a nerve in him, in a way he couldn't describe. He was having doubts, second thoughts about his wonderful plan to right the universe.  
  
You sound like Slade.  
  
These thoughts played on Robin's mind like a man playing on a string instrument, steady but relentlessly. He wasn't like Slade. Slade was a merciless tyrant, whose every intention spawned hate and violence. But the thoughts kept playing on his mind. What made him different from any religious fanatic? Sticking to a single mindedness that only comes when you believe in something so blindly you would die for it, or perhaps even kill someone else for it.  
  
In that sense what made him different from any terrorist? A man who wants to kill to put forward his ideas. But he wasn't killing, was he? No, of course not. Killing is when you stop someone from living by artificial means, he wasn't. He was going back in time to try and prevent an event that was never supposed to happen, so he wasn't killing. Instead he was preventing.  
  
Then again,some devote Catholics thought that using any form of contraception was a way of killing unborn children, so perhaps he was killing? If that is so, then every time in a James Bond movie where 007's next lady love is killed is one extreme form of contraception...  
  
But he wasn't doing this for himself. No. He was doing it for Kory and the team. If he didn't stop this, then the team would suffer. His team. The Teen Titans, protectors of the good and decent people of Jump City, and the world. Protecting people who were unable to protect themselves. A teenage father like that isn't decent. Not a good image to young children out there at all.  
  
This was the thin line between his life and TV. But if this was a Soap Opera, then Savior would be killed next week and Raven would date Beast Boy, who secretly reveals he's gay...  
  
Too many Soap Operas...  
  
But what good was a superhero team with a baby on the way? "Oh excuse me while I just go feed the baby." What super villain in the world would wait for you to feed and change a young one? Well except that crazy Evil John person who robbed the bank a few years back, he would probably wait quite calmly.... now what was Robin doing? Reminiscing over old villains? Next he'll start thinking about all the damage the Lord did...  
  
He sighed at the thought of what the Lord had done. So much death and destruction, so much pain and hate...  
  
His thoughts drifted back over to the new Titans, Rob's ever present smile and jokes, Noel's knowledge, and even Nigel's loyalty. Even if he hated to admit it, they had given the team a new lease of life.  
  
Perhaps it would be good to have a little life in the world?  
  
Robin looked at his watch. It was 8:45 pm, one hour exactly before history would be changed forever. His thoughts drifted back to the villains that he had encountered. From the downright dumb, ranging though the psychotic and deadly, all the way up to the Lord, who was in a class of his own. Was he, the leader of the heroes of this town, really as bad as all these enemies?  
  
The answer hit him like a brick. He was. If he went back in time and stopped this from happening, he would be as bad, if not worse than some of these villains. Killing a child because he didn't want it? Didn't the Lord kill a child because he didn't want it in his 'perfect world'? How can Robin do the same and not call himself either a villain or a hypocrite?  
  
Lifting up his com link, he spoke in to it.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"So. We're back. What did you want to tell us?" Cyborg asked as all of the Titans stood in front of the red and black costumed man. There was a pause. Not wanting to give up on their leader entirely, the Titans had gone back to the tower and waited. Luckily, their waiting had paid off.  
  
"I was thinking." Another pause as he walked, or rather paced a little, his boots coming down hard on the cold surface of the warehouse. The Titans watched him, as he strode, each with a different expression than the last. Noel and distastefulness, Rob and boredom, Nigel and anger, Raven and calmness, Kory and sadness, Victor and hesitance and finally Gar and mockery. Each person surrounded the Teen Wonder, going in a circle using the device as the last link in the chain. With no idea how it worked, they left it alone.  
  
"And what where you thinking about?" Raven questioned, looking straight at him.  
  
"About the villains we faced." He turned his back on them, in thought. Was this intentional? The Blacktrinian and the Tin-man readied themselves just in case. Who knows if, or maybe when, this man, this highly trained teenager, would turn around and attack. "I was thinking about what you said." Another pause. "I'm not like Slade." He placed his gloved hands behind his back, as Kory started to look confused.  
  
"How so?" Her innocence shining through, wanting to hear out Tim, wanting to hear out her boyfriend despite all he had done.  
  
"I don't want to kill, and therefore I don't have too." He turned towards the group once more, with something in his hand. It was a metallic shape with what looked like a plug to slot in to a motherboard. "So I choose not to." It was the add-on to make the Chronotron Destabiliser work to how it was supposed to. "I want us to be a team again." He dropped it on the floor and crushed it with his metal clad boot. "But we may need a new room." He smiled as the others relaxed.  
  
"Wonderful! Joyous news!" Starfire shouted as she sprinted for her boyfriend and clung on to him for dear life. The others laughed then dispersed, not wanting to be around if things got mushy.  
  
"What made you change?" She asked, staring in to the eyes of the father of her children, now and maybe in the future. His mask was still off and so he also gazed in to her beautiful green eyes.  
  
"I didn't, I just remembered who I was, who we where." He laughed lightly, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled as they leaned closer, their lips trying to embrace despite the difficulty posed by her new size. He could feel her heart beat as he reached down to kiss her gently.  
  
"Off! Turn off! Open Sesame! Hocus Pocus!" Rob was currently shouting at the device with the others huddled around it.  
  
"Should I get a big stick of pain?" Nigel suggested.  
  
"No Nigel, hitting it won't work..."  
  
Of course the rest of the Titans could be such pigs and philistines when it came to tender moments such as the one just past. Placing on his mask, Robin then turned to the Titans who tried, with little or no success, to stop the time looper. Starfire blushed lightly as she brushed her hair behind her ear and went to help.  
  
"How about reversing the polarity?" Gauntlet shouted, poking the Chronotron Destabiliser.  
  
"What will THAT do?" Noel asked, standing up a little straighter.  
  
"It always works on Star Trek..." He replied, folding his arms.  
  
"Right, where do we get some polarity?" The resident Blacktrinian asked, more confused now than he ever was.  
  
"I think it already has polarity." Gauntlet called, almost proudly at his achievement.  
  
"But were must we obtain some in case of later encounters with machines with no polarity?"  
  
"Nigel just shaddup." Savior said, starting to get a little bit of a headache.  
  
"I vote we blow it up." Beast Boy called, having said nothing for the past five minutes.  
  
"Won't destroying the time machine wreak havoc on the space-time continuum?"  
  
"Not in any science fiction movie I've ever seen." Both Robert and Gar stated at the same time.  
  
"Yes the documented evidence is even that happened in the 80's with a Delorian and a man called Marty Mcfly."  
  
Again the resident alien showed his lack of understanding.  
  
"Just shoot me now..." Raven was starting to get her own headache that you would need an elephant tranquilizer to cure.  
  
"Well, how about we just press the big button labelled 'off?'" Noel asked incredulously, because by this time he had gone beyond the point of caring.  
  
"Seems like a plan... where is it?" Cyborg asked, fiddling around its base. Robin walked over and pressed the large button labelled off on the back and sidestepped. The tragic thing was that Savior had meant it as a joke. Why on earth is there an off button on what was basically a doomsday device?  
  
"I say we smash it!" Gauntlet shouted as he stole Nigel's glaive from him. "Give me a boost!" Nigel and Kory shrugged and the two aliens threw him in the air, only to be brought straight back down to the ground by its weight of the bladed end. And luckily, for him anyway, he landed on the device which broke his fall... and probably an arm. Noel flinched slightly.  
  
"I vote we fix the machine to go back and stop him from ever joining." Noel sighed. "Sometimes I half wish reality would collapse."  
  
"Well, reality didn't collapse. You lucked out big time."  
  
Maybe the Titans breaking up over a baby would have been the most rational option?  
  
---------------------------------------------------------  
  
gahhhhh  
  
Nigel: Forgive him; he's drained from that chapter... One draft, two re- writes and too many cokes to count.  
  
Jedi: Thanks to all those who have reviewed so far! I owe you all! 


	11. White Hole: Murphy's Law

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr.Noel Collins or Robert Candide, but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
============================  
  
Chapter 11: Murphy's Law  
  
============================  
  
"The events of the day. Today, I am going to die..."  
  
A strange language was being written down in a tough leather-backed book with a lock on it. One clawed hand wrote in this demonic language, which translated, on this current sentence anyway, was... "It started when..."  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
"DELETED!"  
  
After finally fixing the time-skipping problem, life with the Titans had pretty much returned to normal. Or as normal as you can get with a group of costume clad teenage super heroes and a pregnant alien girl, who was, at this moment, trying to eat the fridge. She said it would save time from trying to remove everything and putting it onto a plate. Nigel made a bet with Gauntlet on what would happen first: Robin exploding at the sight of her eating the entire fridge, or her shirt giving way from all she was eating. It was a draw at the moment, as those maternity shirts sure had some give to them...  
  
Raven and Noel however were not having so much fun, as they were, unfortunately, tied to the sofa and being forced to watch Powerpuff Girls. The whole incident started when Cyborg challenged Raven and Noel to their own little bet on who's poetry was better. Noel hastily accepted, because he knew Cyborg's poetic skills lacked in every department, while Noel had at least some writing ability.  
  
Cyborg, being a lot smarter than he looks, didn't say that HE would be their opponent, and chose for them to go up against Beast Boy who, actually being in love as well, completely decimated Noel with a poem he wrote to Charm.  
  
So now Raven was becoming seriously disillusioned, and has started to sing to herself to try and distract her senses from the screen, as Savior comments on how she sounded like the black haired Powerpuff girl. Cyborg loved their torment as just a few weeks before, Raven had 'eaten' one of his games and completely destroyed the Gamestation.  
  
"Dear Robin, how do you type with boxing gloves on?" Robin read out loud. He paused for a moment. "Kids, THAT is why you shouldn't do drugs." And he made it as far as another strange email before he shouted "DELETED!"  
  
Beast Boy was doing his thing and sweet talking Charm on the phone. Unlike the others, he tried not to publicise his little romance with her. After all, she did try and disable the Titans by very forceful means, and we all know someone else who tried the same thing and has to deal with not being trusted. However, this meant when the phone bill arrived, it was quite, how shall we say, expensive?  
  
And so, life in the Titan world seemed as normal as it can be. Until the shouts of "Deleted!" stopped coming and Tim Drake, their ever-fearless leader, walked into the room with a printout.  
  
"Hey guys? For once I got an email worth reading." He said as he sat down, only to see what was going on around him. This was home? It looked like he was in a mad house. "Titans!" He shouted, and within three seconds every Titan was on the sofas and their full attention was on their leader, not wanting to upset him in case they had a repeat of the whole Chronotron Destabiliser incident and he wanted to destroy them all. Plus, there hadn't been any villains for the past few weeks and they where bored out of their minds.  
  
"What's the news boss? Any new villains?" Cyborg asked impatiently. Robin looked around the room to see some of the Titans had actually armed their weapons in excitement of something to do.  
  
"'Fraid not." He said. He would have sweat dropped, but it was against this character. "We just got word that we have to take a diversity check to make sure we are evenly balanced out with the other groups around the world so as not to give the wrong image."  
  
"Oh SCREW this affirmative action stuff. We should be on this team because we're QUALIFIED. Not because of our sex or skin colour! Goddamn fucking PC age, it's going to destroy us all." Noel growled. He wasn't in a good mood, and when he was in a good mood he ranted about humanity's failures, lazinesses, and flaws, and in that topic, he had an endless amount of things to rant about.  
  
"Sorry Noel. It's the rules."  
  
Noel just muttered a curse.  
  
Robin paused as the others disappointedly put away their weapons. "Ok, so if you could state your skin colour and class we will get on with this." Robin wrote down 'White – many classes' for himself.  
  
"Black, upper class." Cyborg spoke, leaning back on the sofa.  
  
"White – without class!" Gauntlet called, standing up and posing. No one told him to get down or to stop the mad little dance he had started to do, though Noel muttered a few more things, as he had long ago learned he was in the minority on his opinion about Robert. It was entertainment to the others, and it was always good to see what would happen when he got to this state of pure boredom, an education experience indeed. Once he had stopped, they continued on.  
  
"Light Grey – lower middle class." Nigel said, getting a few strange looks. "What? I'm not the only one who is grey here!" He pointed to Raven, who was actually a darker shade than he was.  
  
"Orange – Aristocracy." Starfire said calmly with a yawn. Robin wasn't surprised, but everyone else in the room was, ranging from a little to extremely.  
  
"White and upper class, and that doesn't define me in any way." Savior made his statement and leaned on the now rationalised Raven, trying to help out Starfire, because if they didn't continue on there would be a whole host of questions.  
  
"Grey with no class." Raven said softly, trying to recover her mind from the torture of Cyborg. She had silently promised him death.  
  
"Green and upper class! Oh yeah!" Beast Boy shouted, making himself heard.  
  
"The next question is about age." Again he quickly filled in the blank besides his name and each went around giving their own details. After a few minuets of Noel stressing and Rob sleeping, they came across a question that didn't sit quite right.  
  
"Is that everybody?" Robin asked. There was a nod. "Okay, what percentage of your group can swim?"  
  
"...WHAT KIND OF BRAINLESS BURAEUCRAT IS WRITING THESE THINGS NOW! WHAT DOES IT MATTER WHO CAN SWIM! Isn't that why we recruited Aqualad? ARGH!" Noel yelled, and sank back into a simmering, sniping mood.  
  
Everyone else's eyes shot straight to Nigel, who arched the back of his head and sweatdropped.  
  
"I cannot swim." He stated plainly, hoping that no one would mind that fact.  
  
"That reminds me." He heard a woman's voice next to him. His eyes widened a little.  
  
"I forgot that I was meaning to teach you how to swim."  
  
Nigel turned around slowly to see the slightly evil grin on Starfire's face. Or at least that's how he saw it, but to the others it was a perfectly innocent smile.  
  
"Star, are you sure you..."  
  
"I will be fine Robin, but do allow me the satisfaction of trying to teach Nigel. I feel I can help, greatly. But Gauntlet and Savior will be helping me." The pair stared at her in the same shock that Nigel had been wearing just a few moments before.  
  
"Excuse me, since when did I become an aid in learning how to keep one's head above water?" Noel asked, not really wanting to spend time teaching a race that was designed NOT to go into the water IN THE FIRST PLACE go against eons of biological evolution and go into the water.  
  
Kory just turned slowly around and did her best 'I'm going to cry now' face.  
  
Cut to the present where the person, who is obviously now Nigel, finished up writing in his journal.  
  
"And so today, Koriand'r of Tamaran, along side Robert Candide and Noel Collins of Earth, are about to help me die in what they call 'swimming lessons'."  
  
A knock came on the door of the young alien.  
  
"It's time; we have your 'death suit' here." Gauntlet said outside the closed door, holding a pair of black swim shorts. A loud growl came from inside the room.  
  
"Not humorous Human!!" Nigel bellowed back, deathly scared out of his wits of what was just about to happen. He cracked open the door and snatched the swimwear and slammed it shut again. A moment later he came back out in the swim shorts, a T-shirt and his hat, along with three small boxes. As he walked past, Beast Boy started to play the funeral march on a kazzo, and Cyborg saluted the soon-to-be wet Blacktrinian, a very unnerving joke by the pair of them.  
  
And so he arrived at the indoor pool. He was starting to get more and more scared, but tried to hide it as much as possible. The problem was that in situations of stress and when extreme emotions are concerned, a Blacktrinian's eyes glow. Luckily his weren't glowing yet...until he saw the water. Then they were.  
  
"Please try and calm down." Starfire said, slipping into the pool. "This part of the indoor ocean is shallow, so you can stand up in it."  
  
Before Nigel did so though, he passed the three boxes to the people who were teaching him. They opened them: they had little gem shards in them.  
  
"A gift to my killers?" He joked out of desperation, before removing his hat, his spiky hair springing up. He then removed his shirt, revealing his build and some rather nasty looking scars. His build was quite developed, but not overly large. It was more toned and thin. One of the scars on his body was a wide line going down from his chest to his toned stomach: this was the stab wound that Savior gave him when fighting Myth, and which still looked as if it hadn't healed. And considering that was over five months ago, that's considerable. Noel also had his own scar from when he stabbed himself during the whole Trigon thing, but if you read Black and White you would have known that.  
  
Nigel knelt down and felt the temperature of the water. It was cold, and he backed away a little. Noel knew this was going to take some time. The whole idea to him that he could go into water on his own and come out alive must have seemed impossible, so Noel gave his patience a quick polish and waited.  
  
Rob, unfortunately, wasn't as enduring and after a moment or two he put his foot on Nigel's back and pushed him in. The Blacktrinian landed in the water, only to reappear a moment or two later, clutching for dear life onto the set of steps people use to get out of the pool, gasping for air. Unfortunately the Titans now needed new swimming pool steps as he did crush them a little.  
  
"I HATE YOU ALL HUMANS!" He roared, trying to regain his composure.  
  
"ROBERT! THIS ISN'T LIKE SHOVING SOMEONE WHO WON'T GO IN BECAUSE HE FINDS THE WATER TOO COLD! HIS SPECIES IS BIOLOGICALLY ADVERSE TO WATER! YOU COULD HAVE DROWNED HIM! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, USE THAT BLOODY IOTA OF COMMON SENSE YOU STILL POSSESS!" Noel roared. Nigel felt better.  
  
Across the way, at the edge of the pool, Raven stood with her cloak hood down as she scanned the actions of the group. If it wasn't so cruel, she might have laughed at Nigel's floundering, and Noel trying to help him with the Shimmer, and Nigel accidentally cutting the Shimmer a bit with his claws, causing Noel to jerk and then fall into the water, much to Robert's amusement.  
  
Oh what the heck, she stifled a laugh all the same. The green changeling known as Beast Boy walked next to her, beaming at the whole event.  
  
"Ahh, the wonders of being able to swim." Beast Boy chuckled. Not only could he swim in human form, but he had all those aquatic forms to choose from as well, ranging from sea snakes and pikes, to whales and clown fish.  
  
Raven turned away from him and looked in a random direction, an ever so slight blush on her face. The fact she was blushing and her silence meant only one thing. Beast Boy pointed at her with an amused expression on his features.  
  
"You can't swim!" He shouted. Raven's eyes widened. She was a half demon, she didn't NEED to swim! Well she could float and tread water, but not properly swim. Besides, swimming demons had little or no respectability and she would be laughed at rather than feared.  
  
Gar, never being one for subtlety, breathed in, ready to shout out the news. Raven, not wanting to join in the swim lesson, took a bottle from her cloak that she had borrowed from Nigel's office and soaked a cloth with it before replacing the lid on the bottle and reaching up with it to Beast Boy's mouth.  
  
Five minutes later she was dressed in her swimsuit, clinging onto the edge of the pool, looking a little annoyed.  
  
"That is what you get for Chloroforming Beast Boy." Nigel commented, glad he wasn't the only person in the tower with a label, and that label was a large red L plate in regards to swimming ability  
  
"So much for that plan." She replied. "Any ideas how to get out of this?"  
  
"Indeed. One of us pretends to drown while the other runs away."  
  
"Well let us not be sad, for now we have two people to teach the joys of swimming." Starfire tried to reassure them, walking across the bottom of the pool. Noel was now looking far more interested now as well. The two grey skinned teens looked a little worried, to say the least.  
  
Let the lessons begin!  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
"Are we all here? Good! I have heard a few rumours! Some about new Titans, some about older ones!" A middle-aged man with a lot of his hair missing shouted, like the news editor he was, to his staff about a recent article. "I want this rumour substantiated." He called, the disfigured cigar handing from his lips.  
  
"Right away!" They called.  
  
"Now I want you to find as much information as you can, and look into this Starfire pregnancy rumour. I personally think its a load of baloney, but check it out all the same!" He pointed to his young journalists.  
  
"Yes boss!" They responded.  
  
"Remember, we need the information for a two page spread, so get everything you can!" They all stood and made their way to the door. Ah, the mass media: prying into your life and secrets and telling them for the world to judge and mock, all in the name of the...well, it's one of the Amendments, don't get mad at me for not knowing, I'm English and I don't know American laws. I know one and that states you can shoot anyone on your property... anyway, on with the story.  
  
Outside the room, the elevator doors opened slowly with a chime as a pair of talon-like feet stepped out. They were light metallic silver with two clawed toes that clicked on the hard marble finish floor.  
  
The figure stood there for a moment or two, everyone in the office too busy to notice her, which was fine, I suppose. With the entire bustle, there was an element of calmness floating through the air, everyone wandering with a purpose and working in harmony. Several conversations at once while doing three things that you were not even aware you where doing seemed to be normal. It was like watching a beehive, but then again this person didn't watch beehives, she didn't even know or care what a bee was. The men and women came from the room that the editor had been yelling in and stopped dead as the figure's dark eyes stared them down, a pair of dark sclera with yellow irises.  
  
"Who the hell are you?!" A young woman in a suit asked briefly, before taking in the outfit of the newcomer. She was dressed in mainly pure white.  
  
And before any more of it could be described something happened.  
  
The woman stopped breathing.  
  
And the figure held up a pair of blood soaked talons.  
  
Nothing happened for a moment or two, until a scream came from behind the woman as her throat exploded in a fine spray, coating the figure in white and everything behind her in a fine mist of crimson. Not even a flinch occurred from the attacker, from this vicious murder: she just moved forward. Someone probably would have heard something downstairs and called the police, if they weren't already dead, their blood soaking their suits and ties like cheap dye.  
  
Screams and yells erupted from the room, loud enough to be heard from the building across the street, or at least it would have been if there had not been an convenient accident outside, in which police sirens were wailing and car alarms were going off left and right with people honking their horns. It just seemed to be her lucky day didn't it?  
  
But it mattered not anyway, because soon there was just silence in the building. And the figure knew silence: her large ears could have heard a bug on the window. There were no more voices. Nothing for a moment or two...until the rustle of a piece of dried paper being crushed went under her sharp toes caught her ears.  
  
Kneeling down, she lifted up a picture taken awhile ago, when there was plenty for the Titans to do. But she wasn't interested in the rest of them, just one of them...  
  
A slight clank of something or other caught her attention. There was still one person alive. Taking the picture, she made her way slowly to where the sound was, and indeed there was a young man left, cowering under the desk for fear of his life with a deep slash across his chest. She hadn't missed him the first time, but she had presumed she had cut deep enough and that he was dead. Apparently not.  
  
"Where do I find these people?" She said, showing him the photo. Her accent was thick and very strange sounding. It had an almost German twinge to it, but she was obviously not German.  
  
"T-They are the Titans! They are the p-protectors of this city!" He whimpered, fear gripping his throat.  
  
"That is not answering my question." She said, as she grabbed him and lifted him from under the desk with one clawed hand, holding him up above her. She may have only been around five foot six, but she acted as if she was seven feet tall.  
  
"In the tower! The one shaped like a 'T'!" He gasped..  
  
"Good."  
  
Her wrist shook slightly, and a loud, dull crack rang through the air as he fell to the floor, limp and lifeless. The figure walked to the window and saw, on the horizon, the Titan Tower.  
  
"This will be easier than I thought." She said, an ever-familiar lisp coming across her lips as she grinned, a large double fanged tooth shining out amongst the rest of her teeth. She reared back a little and jumped out the window, landing on top of a building across the four-lane street as if it was jumping a small gap around a foot wide.  
  
Time to make herself heard...  
  
"Hold it right there."  
  
A voice, cool and calm, came from behind her. She didn't turn, she had no need to, however she did halt just so she could hear whatever worthless words he wanted to say before she acted.  
  
"There seems to be a lot of blood on you, and a lot of blood on the floor where you just came from. Mind explaining?" He said, his voice tense with barely controlled anger, she noted, as she pushed the now fully visible hat up a little with the clawed thumb she had. It was a large, Crocodile Dundee style hat, but the top was longer, more elongated and almost like that of a wizard, however it curled forward rather than back with a large band at its base. The woman in the hat stood high and mighty, an air of arrogance around her.  
  
"Your point being?" She asked, her head turning slightly so her long pointed ears aimed more in the man's direction.  
  
"I think you did something that wasn't...quite...right."  
  
Now she turned, finally in full view, and it was painfully obvious that she was a fighter: armour glinted in the sun as blood trickled down the shells on her shoulders, black hair fluttering in the wind as her mouth cracked open to form a sadistic smile, a smile full of sharp dangerous teeth, red fluids seeping down her nose slightly.  
  
"I think it's time we had a little talk, young man."  
  
"The name is Robin." Robin replied. He looked a bit like he was smiling too, until you realized in was just his teeth clenched in great rage at the murders this woman had just committed. "I hope you remember it, as you'll be telling it to the cops as the one that caught you."  
  
"Foolish human." She shook her head slightly, not looking at all ready for a fight.  
  
This arrogance would cost her, as she didn't expect Robin to attack head on, swinging with his staff. He struck her across the face, forcing her back a few steps. As she was trying to regain her balance, Robin followed up by slashing out his staff in an upward arc, catching her under the chin and knocking her flat on her back.  
  
"You aren't as good as you think you are." The leader of the Titans said, as he stood over her triumphantly. It had been a good idea to take a stroll around the city during the swimming lessons: he'd caught a murderer in the act.  
  
A low growl escaped her lips as she spun back up to her feet and stared him down again. There was a pause. Robin didn't know whether to be unimpressed or bored. He had seen many of his foes stand back up after a few blows.  
  
"We have only just begun human." She snarled, as she lashed out and batted him away with the back of her clawed hand, sending the Titan flying back quite a way, but he eventually managed to right himself before he hit the edge of the building and flew off onto empty air. His eyes narrowed on the figure...and then in very little time at all they widened again as she produced some form of gun, a short stubby, white thing with a long tub going along the top edge of it while the guard protected the whole hand, not just the index finger like Earth guns. She pulled the trigger and a shot of what looked like a capsule came forth.  
  
Robin just managed to dodge, barely, but it caught his staff and broke on contact. There was a pause before the staff started to melt away, forcing him to drop it before it melted part of his arm with it. Another smirk came upon the attacker's face before she lunged forward and sliced with her claws, catching Robin across the chest before she spun around and kicked him away so he spun in a corkscrew style through the air and landed awkwardly on the floor. She laughed to herself as he regained his composure and his footing.  
  
It was his turn to launch the attack, sending in a left after a right jab. However, the talons of the opposition caught both, and she quickly kneed him in the gut before pushing his face away while still holding his clenched fists, bending him back and causing pain to go screaming through his spine as it protested this contortion. After a few moments of this, she threw him away to slide across the rooftop. He quickly stood up again. Surprised? This was Robin we were talking about, he wouldn't go down even if you shot him...  
  
"You will not get rid of me so easily." He snapped, as he repositioned himself in one of the many martial arts' style stances he knew.  
  
"Cocky little Altrack! You will regret toying with the Empire." She said, as she lunged forward again, before suddenly jumping up and doing a very familiar kick. Namely Nigel's Falkla kick, but unlike when Nigel tried it, this one actually connected and sent the teen flying again across the roof.  
  
If you haven't guessed it by now, I may as well tell you she is a Blacktrinian, but I thought I'd let you try and work it out for yourself. Come on, it really wasn't that obscure.  
  
Robin, now a little dazed, wondered why the claw like toes of his opponent hadn't made two large holes in his head. The answer was the way she stood. She stood on her toes with her heels off the floor. And actually, compared to Nigel's claws, hers were different: his were segmented with little spikes that overlapped onto the back of the hands and feet, while hers where just two un-segmented digits on each limb with no excess overlapping. The point I'm trying to make is that when she kicked him, her toes were parallel to his face, as it was the comfortable position for her.  
  
"You really pack a punch, but I think you have underestimated..." Robin said. But that was too much talking, as he was cut off by a quick kick to his gut that lifted him off the floor. She then grabbed his cape and swung him into the floor again, making sure he felt it this time in spite of his body armour, as she made sure he went face first. She made sure he stayed down by pressing one foot down onto his head. The Blacktrinian then pulled the photo out of her pocket that she had before and showed it to him.  
  
"Tell me, where do I find Nigicalnack Hastionfarlock?" She said, as showed the picture of the Titans with Nigel on the end and Robin nearest the camera. She had moved down slightly, so she was holding his head down with her spare hand, forcing him to look at the photo.  
  
And despite his overwhelming urge to hand Nigel over to this psycho, he didn't want to endanger the other Titans. Besides, even if Nigel has done him wrong, he didn't deserve the fate in store from this unknown attacker. For once he did him a favour. Fancy that.  
  
"I don't know any Nickelback Havezionfarwalk!" He shouted back, though muddling the name quite extensively. What do you expect from a human tongue? "And even if I did, why would I tell you?"  
  
She lifted his head a little and slammed it down onto the hard rooftop.  
  
"Do not play the fool and martyr with me young human, I have eaten things that have put up more fight than you did. It would be in your best interests to tell me." She pauses as the sun started to get in her eyes a little and she growled again. She held up her hand to block scorching orb. "Ugh, even this setting sun is too bright for me, how do you creatures live with such illumination...." Just so you know, the home world where she came from was a very dark place indeed, one out of every 50 days was sun, the rest where dark rain clouds or overcast shadows. But back to the action.  
  
"Alright... Alright..." He paused, trying to fool her as his hand slowly made it down to his tool belt, hoping that she wouldn't notice. She didn't, she was too busy trying to block out the sun with her talons, and he pressed a button on his belt calling the others for help silently. But it wasn't as silent as he wished, for the foe's ears twitched and her head snapped towards what he had done. A growl came from her as she threw him across the roof again, pocketing the photo.  
  
"I warned you not to play games human; I decided to go easy and spare your life if you helped me. You turned it down. Bad choice human, bad choice."  
  
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Back at the tower, all the bells and whistles were going off as the alarm hollered throughout the building. The three wet male Titans ran up the stairs to the alarm, which Cyborg had just started to work the machine. They were all fully dressed when they got there (the lesson was just finishing anyway).  
  
"We have a big problem. Fearless is getting his head kicked in. I'm pinpointing his position now." The map on the screen shot to his position on the rooftop with another red marker depicting the enemy.  
  
"Who is it?" Gauntlet asked.  
  
"The question should be who could it be? Not many people can knock Robin around like a rag doll." Noel commented. "Is it anyone we know?" There was a pause and a few blips.  
  
"Nope, someone new. Let me punch up a vid-link." Cyborg said, getting a picture of the attacker. Nigel gasped and stepped back, a look of utter fear on his face. The attacker moved closer to Robin, but her ears twitched and she turned around, looking straight at the floating camera. She pulled that strange gun from her back again and aimed it, firing quickly and destroying the camera. There was a pause as they turned to the deathly afraid Blacktrinian.  
  
"It can't be..." He muttered in his native tongue, his eyes as wide as saucers. Cyborg pulled up the image of the attacker before she shot the camera.  
  
"Yo Nige, what's up? Why does she work you up so much?" Cyborg questioned, turning from the monitor to the newest Titan.  
  
"Unless we think of something, within twenty four hours we will all be dead." He said. He shook his head slightly, unable to think, unable to do anything. The others gave a slightly confused expression and tried to calm him down. He was now muttering pure gibberish, things they had no clue about.  
  
"Slow down Nigel, whoa. Calm down." Noel put his hand on his shoulder to try and reassure him. It took the Titans around five minutes to just get him to speak English. Once he was a little more himself, they started to ask him questions.  
  
"Who is this person?" Raven asked. She had arrived and tried to help calm down the stressed out Scalpel as well, though she was still a little wet and annoyed.  
  
"She is a member of the Blacktrinian armed forces. She is a part of an elite squad known as the White Holes. They are, put very simple, military police. This one is Rebecalnatrac Styilnifanalan. I suppose Rebecca Styles would be the closest you can get to it in English."  
  
"So they are MPs, no big problem." Gauntlet called, turning around and walking away. "Give me five minutes and I'll have her down."  
  
"Foolish human!" The Blacktrinian snapped. "What do you expect to do?!"  
  
"Well seeing as you are average for your race and seeing as we defeated you..."  
  
"What on the five moons of Gidium gave you that idea?" He demanded. This took the others a little by surprise.  
  
"Back up a little, what exactly is wrong?" Cyborg asked, starting to get a little more concerned about their situation. Nigel sat there for a moment or two, thinking what he could, should and must do. There is indeed a difference between these; could do is where you think of all possibilities, should do is the things that would seem right in your mind, and must do is what feels natural due to your instincts. Unfortunately all three pointed to a way that he didn't much enjoy.  
  
Leaping to his feet and walking over to the consol. A few strange looks came across him at this newfound determination as he pressed a few buttons. "I said before you would be dead within five minutes if you ever met a proper soldier. That's not just a proper soldier, she's one of the best of the best. Robin has been going for around ten and that's about 8 minutes of borrowed time. Stay here. This is something I have to deal with."  
  
And with that he slammed his fist down onto the consol and the security systems activated, metal shutters coming down across the windows and the outer doors locking tightly. Nigel turned around and spirited towards a window as this happened and jumped, smashing the glass. Savior tried to follow but the shutters were coming down and he was pulled out the way by Gauntlet. Nigel had actually sealed them inside their own home. The question was, is this to stop them, or protect them?  
  
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"You humans are such wonderful punching bags." The Blacktrinian, now known as Rebecca, said as she slammed another kick into the Teen Wonder, sending him back a little more so he now balanced precariously on the edge, too dazed to even counter or to grab ahold of something if he fell. "But alas, your company grows tiresome and I have a lot of work to do." She added. She pulled back for a large final kick, this one aimed to pierce a lung or two.  
  
"Styilnifanalan!" A shout came from behind her, as well as the sound of something snapping into place. She gave a smirk and turned to see Nigel, armed and ready with his glaive.  
  
"Looks like my job won't take as long as I thought." She replied in her natural tone. "Why on the home-world they want ME, the leader of the White Holes, to deal with you I have no idea." She rasped in the growling Blacktrinian language. Her arrogance was even more evident in her own language, as she flicked her hair out slightly and laughed.  
  
"Shut the hell up!" Nigel replied in his tongue, as her smirk faded. "I'm surprised you would even waste your time coming here to find me. What, the empire didn't want to get their claws dirty again?"  
  
"Probably. If it makes you feel any better I don't really want to be here, but hell, I was told to come here and seeing as I'm here now I may as well do my job." She said, as she fiddled with her earring lightly before turning her attention back to him. "So you gonna come quietly?"  
  
"No damn chance." He spat. By this time Robin looked very confused about what they were conversing about. "Earth is my home now."  
  
"Pity." She said in English, and leapt forward and slashed at him with her claws. Luckily, he managed to get the glaive up in time, but it wasn't enough as she quickly slammed a foot into his side, knocking him away. Nigel quickly countered and slashed at the ankles of Rebecca, but she jumped and grabbed the glaive, throwing him over her head and down onto the hard concrete. Robin got up and tried to attack her, but she performed a backhanded swipe that almost broke his jaw and cut his lip off before she followed up with a kick to the neck. She would have followed up with another, more fatal, blow, however two familiar clawed hands wrapped around her middle and lifted her up and back, doing an all too familiar German suplex with her on the receiving end. Chris Benoit, eat your heart out  
  
Nigel quickly flipped back up and retrieved his glaive.  
  
"A battle move I learned while on earth." He commented, a stern look across his features. Far more quickly then he would have liked, the White Hole stood up, and extended what looked like some form of old style mace, with the expression of someone who is very much unimpressed.  
  
"You are weaker than advertised. Living among humans has softened your abilities. And now I am bored and hungry so I think I'll finish this quickly." Rebecca said. In her other clawed hand she produced another gun. Unlike the first one, which was relatively straight, this was more pointed and looked like it was made up of some form of cone strapped to a couple of cylinders and an orb.  
  
She threw her hand up and shot, catching Robin off guard and in the shoulder, knocking him back, and then she quickly re-aimed and shot Nigel in the other shoulder. Unlike the first gun, this had small thin bullets in it rather than gel capsules. She ran forward, grabbed Robin's foot, pulled it out from under him, and taking hold of it, she lifted it into the air and kicked the knee joint of the foot that was still on the floor outwards in a way that it shouldn't bend. The mercenary then grabbed his ankle and tried to throw him into Scalpel, but he managed to dodge the, er, Robindoken, and swung his glaive. He missed, and in the process overextended himself so much that he stuck it in the floor, and she countered by grabbing it with her feet and flicking it up to her hands, taking hold of it. Nigel, with nothing left to support his still forward motion, fell on the floor.  
  
And she brought the glaive down and through him, causing him to yell in pain.  
  
She just laughed. She twisted the blade a little, causing him to squirm and holler even more, trying to escape something he could not, as the blade had passed through him and into the rooftop. Nigel clawed long swaths onto the stone as he furiously tried to get away. His race may be immune to serious harms from blades inside and out, but they were not immune to pain, and this woman knew exactly how to use that immunity to hurt him, as she twisted the strange glaive, wrapping his organs around like when you turn a fork in spaghetti. And no matter where you are from or what innate biological gifts or protection you have, that has got to hurt.  
  
There was a sadistic smile on her face as she turned the blade...a smile that soon faded as her ears once again twitched and she sidestepped a blue blast that shot across her shoulder. She turned, her yellow eyes focusing on who fired it.  
  
"Yo, big shot! Let's see you fight all of us!"  
  
=======================  
  
Looks like the Titans are screwed in the most royal of ways.  
  
Nigel: See you in the next chapter... I hope. Ow...what sick Clive Barker fantasy did you get THIS move from, my author... 


	12. White Hole: The Iron claw of the Empire ...

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr.Noel Collins or Robert Candide but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
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Chapter 12: The Iron claw of the Empire always holds on till last...  
  
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"Please send her in." A young man said. He was robed in a black and dark burgundy outfit, and he sat with others dressed like him in a circle, a large flame in the centre of the room and glowing symbols on the floor that matched the robes.  
  
Moments later, a woman walked in, dressed in white clothing. Even her armour was platinum white. She removed her hat and bowed slightly towards the group, her dark hair fluttering. She was dressed in a suit like jacket with a metallic collar that rose over her chin and came to a point on her chest. Her skintight trousers were also white as was the armour on her shins.  
  
"How may I help you?" She asked, not replacing her hat.  
  
"Rebecalnatrac Styilnifanalan, we are in need of your amazing battle prowess for a mission." The first one said, speaking again. "One of the newest to the circle has heard that her brother, who was enlisted into the war against the Tamaraneans, has gone missing. Last reports indicate he was passing near the Terra-CX solar system."  
  
"That's quite a way away. Why tell me this? Why not just tell the military?" She asked. When a White Hole asks to know something, it is not a question, but a demand that you must carry out.  
  
"The planet we think he landed on is the planet known to its inhabitants as Earth."  
  
This raised both brows of Rebecalnatrac, abet in a form of relaxed surprise.  
  
"Then it is a matter for the prison office."  
  
"We tried." A softer voice came from the end of the circle, a masked figure whose long silver hair came from the hat like object on her head. She wore the burgundy and black robes over the top of her lighter red and green ones. The leader's head snapped towards her, and she recoiled lightly. "My apologies for speaking."  
  
"Remember, obedience is one of the founding markers of our society. You would do well to remember that."  
  
"Again, I apologize." She whispered, falling from the conversation just as quickly as she had arose, a slight tear tracing its way down the side of her face.  
  
"As I was saying, we have tried to organize something with the Prison office, but they refuse to look on the planet, which is why we have turned to you."  
  
The figure in white folded her arms, an all knowing smirk coming across her features.  
  
"You want me to go to the planet and search for this... Missing person?"  
  
"That is correct. We will make it worth your while." The supposed leader said. A silver palm held out three large red coins, each worth roughly the equivalent of one million dollars if we translated Blacktrinian currency systems to ours.  
  
"That...yet surely you realize...I make more than that just sitting at home!" She spat, her true arrogance showing through (or more so than before). Her head turned slightly as she rose in order to place on her hat. She had heard enough.  
  
"Only if there is a war on, and at the moment, there are no conflicts that require your attention or effort."  
  
She paused. It was true, the Empire was not expanding its territories (yet...) and after the conflict with Tamaran the Empire was recovering, as it had been a long a brutal battle. People don't like soldiers around in peacetime, and she would be out of a job as the Military police didn't do a lot in her society. She dropped her hat back down to the side.  
  
"I'm listening." She said quietly. The leader nodded to his companions and they rose and left, including the weepy priestess. He stood to her level, an averagely sized Blacktrinian standing at approximately six foot one, and even though she had to look up to him, she was the one in control.  
  
"His name is Nigicalnack Hastionfarlock, and we chose you for several reasons, one of which being that there are a lot of ex-convicts on Earth from the old empire, who are armed with human weapons and can be extremely dangerous." He paused as the flame in the centre changed colour from its previous fiery red to a more subtle blue, as did the floor markings with it. "The second is this. If you do find this man...kill him."  
  
"Assassinations costs extra." She replied calmly. She showed not a wit of surprise at what he had just said.  
  
"How true. A mercenary for hire till the last." He said. He pulled from his robe sleeve a blue coin, worth roughly half of the red ones. "The empire doesn't like loose ends. Those humans are stupid now, yes indeed, and they are weak and fragile. However they use guns." He threw the coin to the White Hole. "Big guns. And lots of them. It could be a problem for us as they are accurate marksmen, for the most part, and if they find out our weakness they could decimate the empire one day, when they get interstellar space travel up."  
  
Another pause as he breathed.  
  
"And the Empire doesn't want anyone telling any secrets, both in a military and a religious sense?" The woman said. A smirk came onto her face as she fiddled with the small blue coin. Of course the religion was nothing much more than a cover.  
  
"You read my mind. If you do not return, I will assume that you have been killed and our transaction never took place." The leader said. He placed up his hood as she placed on her hat.  
  
"Fine, I shall depart. But I will return. Have no fear of that."  
  
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And so she had gone, and she found Nigicalnack Hastionfarlock, and at this very moment she has a blade stuck in his back, twisting his innards out to try and cause as much pain as possible before she grew bored and finally put a bullet in his brain. Unlike what would be logical, he had come to her to try and protect his friend, or at least his leader. She gathered that when more turned up.  
  
"Yo, big shot! Let's see you fight all of us!"  
  
And there stood the rest of these so called Titans. One was missing, a long haired young woman who was supposed to be able to fly. The Tamaranean girl. Rebecca shrugged. Looks like she will have to kill her later. But for now, here were the self appointed protectors of this 'fair' city, who stood there ready to give their life for a deserter. Idiotic sacks of flesh. She would enjoy destroying such stupidity.  
  
"My quarrel is not with you, but with the man who I am currently gutting like a side of meat. Leave or share his fate."  
  
"Get out of here!" Nigel shouted, only to claw at the roof in pain again as she twisted the pike-like weapon even more. The torture was becoming unbearable as he tried his hardest not to cry out in pure agony. He would NOT give her that satisfaction.  
  
"We ain't leaving. You hurt our leader and you're hurting our doctor. It's time we hurt you." Cyborg said, with his cannon fully extended and ready. It had taken some work to get them out of the tower, but Raven and Cyborg managed to override whatever lock Nigel placed on the windows and doors. He may have been a doctor, but he was no computer expert. They had quickly tracked the pair to their present location, fighting this so-called law enforcer.  
  
"You really should take his advice, it's not wise to fight me and..."  
  
An air vent encased in black energy being thrown at her interrupted Rebecca.  
  
"You talk far too much." Raven said, floating overhead, a few more bits of paraphernalia from the surrounding rooftops at the ready for throwing. Rebecca dodged out the way of the missiles being thrown at her, only to be batted away by some form of energy wall made by the ever-present Gauntlet. She stumbled back straight into Beast Boy, who, in ram form, knocked her back to the ground.  
  
"I don't see why Scalpel worried so much! Heck I could take you on my own!" Gauntlet taunted, pulling back to punch her.  
  
A glint was seen in Rebecca's eye as she caught his hand.  
  
And snapped his wrist in three places just by twisting it, making a nasty crack and a bone or two appearing through the back of his hand, before she used the other clawed hand and batted him away, forcing a look of surprise on everyone around at her pure strength.  
  
"Geez." Noel said. In non-combat situations he was always riding Gauntlet's ass, but this was business now, and Gauntlet was a team mate. And if you attacked ONE Titan...  
  
Another projectile came at Rebecca, but she caught it and threw it straight back at Raven at such a speed she couldn't throw up a shield. Luckily Raven was going upwards at the time, because if that had struck her head, she wouldn't be waking back up. Instead, it slammed straight into her gut, forcing her to double over and fall to the rooftop, trying to breath.  
  
Cyborg tried to fire at her (After all, if full power knocked Scalpel out, it should do the same to the White Hole! Or at least cause her serious pain! Right?) but she dashed forward as he fired, each shot missing her. Growling, Cyborg began to fire again...  
  
Only to find that Rebecca had moved at such speed that when he fired, she had grabbed his arm and re-aimed his cannon straight at his chest. He blew a hole in his own torso and was thrown by the impact into Beast Boy.  
  
Savior lashed out with the Shimmer, grabbing the White Hole's cape and pulling hard on it, trying to knock her of balance so he could set up another attack, but she retaliated quicker then he had anticipated and pulled her cape close enough to grab the Shimmer and slice it. The white- garbed Titan fell to his knees in pure pain.  
  
"Goddamn, if it's not giant dragon men it's superpowered female clones!" Noel cursed, harping on the trouble Nigel had unwittingly attracted.  
  
"Humans are always a fun race to pick on." Rebecca chuckled to herself. She didn't even have a scratch on her, and she had single handedly disarmed and disabled the protectors of this city. And it felt good.  
  
All that had to be done now was to finish off Scalpel, as they called him, and she could go.  
  
Her laughter was cut short by some green blasts that exploded off her cape, knocking her to the floor in pain. She turned and glared daggers at the attacker.  
  
"Leave my friends alone." Starfire said. Against all orders and wishes, she had arrived on the scene. Although she wasn't in costume (unless maternity wear was the latest fashion choice for metahumans and Starfire had heard it through the grape vine first), you could tell she was angry and she wanted to help.  
  
"Little Tamaranean whore!" The Blacktrinian barked, growling and pulling that strange black projectile weapon out again to fire, trying to aim through her pain and rage. She then finally saw Starfire's condition and re- aimed to cause as much pain as possible, which was straight for her stomach. The same sadistic smirk came across her face.  
  
"STARFIRE! RUN!" Robin shouted from where he was, trying to get his other half to flee the battlefield before something terrible happened. Aggravated, the White Hole stopped her shot as she stormed over and kicked him hard in the face, knocking him back down. Starfire tried to fire more Starbolts, but this woman had obviously been fighting Tamaraneans in the Great 100 Year War, as she knew where they would be aimed, be it Starbolts or weapons, Tamaraneans aim mainly for the feet and torso, the first to disable and the second to kill, and she dodged them all with relative ease. Starfire raised her arms up to charge a larger blast, but the baby started to kick, distracting her and causing the blast to dissipate.  
  
"Good night little one. I hope your mother misses you." Rebecca said, as she raised the gun again and aimed.  
  
Starfire realized, in that sublime moment, that she had caused even more trouble than her worth, because if she was attacked, she would be far too heavy to dodge. She could not ascend to avoid the attack, and sharp abrupt movements were almost impossible. She was a sitting duck for the gun...  
  
"I doubt that."  
  
A pair of talons wrapped around her arms, sending the shot into the floor as they were pinned to her side. Scalpel was up, with the glaive still stuck in his back. And Beast Boy, still relatively unharmed, and in a brief moment of cold battle effiecieny rather then emotion for a friend in pain, turned into a kangaroo and used his huge feet to jump and ram the glaive's blunt end, sending it shooting through his friend and straight through the White Hole. She screamed, black blood spurting out the front of her as she looked in pure shock. The hero Blacktrinian, in a great show of testicular fortitude, pulled himself backwards and OFF the glaive before he grabbed the pole end of it, still slick with his own blood, and lifted the White Hole up, slamming her into the floor before he removed the weapon from her and backed up.  
  
"YIKES." Noel said, thoroughly impressed.  
  
The eyes of Nigel were glowing an all-familiar blue, this time in anger, as the rest of the Titans came up and lined up around him, but not too near as they didn't want any of his still flowing blood to splash on them and give them a rough equivalent of being sprayed with napalm.  
  
"I have an idea. It may be risky, but it also might work." He whispered. Cyborg prepped his cannon, still feeling weak from where he shot himself, and fired, knocking the White Hole back to buy them some time.  
  
"What is your plan?" Robin asked, for once giving him the respect he never gave him. Although that might have been due to the several blows to the head he had suffered possibly giving him a concussion.  
  
He whispered into Robin's ear what he wanted. He nodded and signalled for Beast Boy, Savior, Raven and Starfire to go and do what they had to do, while the rest stayed and fought the White Hole to set her up.  
  
"So how do you expect us to win?" Cyborg said, as he indicated the lack of people there facing this menace.  
  
"I don't... I just want us to... Um..." Nigel paused, unable to think of the words.  
  
"Just buy some time Cyborg, all we need to do is to fight her off and keep from getting killed for just a little while, and then we can put the plan into action." Robin finished, getting ready.  
  
"Fine with me Fearless!" Cyborg shouted as he fired his cannon repeatedly in the direction of the White Hole. Apparently getting impaled had messed up her evasive abilities, as she was struck over and over.  
  
"Let's get some action going!" Gauntlet shouted, jumping back into the battlefield, trying to block out the pain of his broken wrist.  
  
"Let's hope we last..." Nigel muttered in his native tongue, a worried look coming from his harsh glowing eyes. Because if he failed, if they failed, they would all die.  
  
"You are all fools." Rebecca hissed. Cyborg fired one more time, but this time it didn't hit its target, instead bouncing off into another direction, completely destroying the side of a high building. She smirked. "I think it's time I showed off a tool or two."  
  
There was a bracer on her arm which they hadn't noticed before. Its colouring was green and white, with an orb in the same colour under some bands of armour. The orb shone out a brilliant light, almost blinding before it faded away again.  
  
"A force field!" Robin shouted before jumping back, trying to put a little more distance between himself and the overpowered opponent before she gained the ability to launch a counter offensive. She was clearly angry now, and it was visible as her eyes started to glow a faint yellow. She drew her club-like weapon and regained her composure, her eyes returning to what a Blacktrinian would call normal.  
  
"You bore me. How long do you expect you can last?" She taunted, as she raised her gun again and fired, the male Titans just managing to dodge to the side.  
  
"Yo Scalps! Didn't you say that we'd be dead in five minutes if we met one of these things?" Cyborg asked, sitting painfully back up.  
  
"You just HAD to bring that up now, didn't you?" Gauntlet replied.  
  
"..." Scalpel didn't respond. Was this all it seemed? Or were they walking into a larger and larger trap? Rebecca, in all likelihood, should have killed at least half of them by now. Maybe she wasn't used to the atmosphere of this planet? Or was she just being lazy? Whatever it was, he didn't like the feeling of helplessness that was coming over him.  
  
And he was right on the money, as she struck.  
  
She dashed forward and sidestepped the cannon of Cyborg before grabbing his arm once again. Instead of re-aiming it at him, she just ripped it off at the elbow joint in a quick jerk and threw it away before taking his other arm and putting the club through it, completely decimating the delicate construction of the limb. Cyborg yelled, but without arms he was soon kicked away with a sharp heel blow to the mechanical side of his head, forcing the large Titan to skid across the roof top.  
  
Gauntlet moved in, the yellow energy of his artefact forming a wall that pushed the White Hole towards the edge of the roof. However, it wasn't enough, as she jumped up and over the barrier, landing on Gauntlet's side of the 'wall'. He whipped up a bladed weapon and a shield from the Gauntlet's abilities to try and block and attack. But both were blocked before she did a long kick into his gut, forcing him to double over. She drew back to land a hard blow to the back of Robert's head with the club, but a disk spun and landed on the club, beeping down and then exploding, sending the White Hole flying through the air. She landed on the next building across.  
  
The White Hole jumped back up and growled at the disc thrower, who was of course the man who had everything in his belt, Robin. Now even angrier then before at the impudence of humans, she jumped back across to the original roof with no trouble, skipping over and grabbing the Teen Wonder and throwing him through the empty air above the street and into a building. Which was quite shocking to all the staff in there who were watching the fight intently.  
  
That only left the fugitive to be dealt with, and now his friends were out of the way, she had all the time in the world. She tuned only to receive a nasty left hook from Nigel.  
  
It did nothing.  
  
She retaliated with a right hook that nearly took his head off (in a quite literal sense) as he was launched across the roof and off it, going through the roof access stairwell. She casually made her way over and dragged him out from the rubble, prepping her second gun as she pointed it at him.  
  
"Mission complete." She uttered lightly, her claw slightly squeezing the trigger of the weapon.  
  
Then her ears twitched, and she just managed to duck down, dodging a piece of pipe that was thrown at her. A pipe that was encased in black energy. She stood back up and pointed the black gun at whoever threw it.  
  
"Smile!" Savior quipped. He was standing next to a large, dark, object. As the sun was slowly going down, it was hard to make out what it was...until it was too late.  
  
He flipped the switch and bright light appeared, blinding the young mercenary. The object happened to be a giant spotlight, the ones they use whenever someone decides to scale the outside of a rather tall building. And Blacktrinians liked incredibly bright lights being shone in their eyes about as much as humans did... Actually, worse. Remember she was from the home world, and remember what I said about their days? 1 out of 50 days where sun. Everything else was quite dark. She growled and tried as hard as she could to guard her eyes as she turned and ran towards the edge of the building to jump away. She reared back as she reached the edge, preparing to spring...  
  
Starfire, and her grin, shot in front of her at a speed that she hadn't anticipated: it was too fast to be under her own power with the size she was, so something must have helped her. Rebecca's eyes, which were finally coming back into focus, noticed what it was: a helicopter. Then she noticed the mounted searchlight on the side with the expectant Star behind it.  
  
"As I believe humans say, let there be light!" She said, as she flipped the switch and turned the spotlight on. The White Hole had a deer caught in the proverbial headlights look as her eyes dilated and her ears flopped down a little before she stumbled back and the helicopter rose.  
  
"Make sure you stay on this side!" Starfire shouted in her headset to the chopper pilot.  
  
"Sure thing Miss Starfire!" He shouted back, lifting it up out of the reach of the White Hole, but still low enough to have some effect. Two of her three exits were now covered, so there was only one way left, and that was from where she had come in: the office building across the street. She turned to jump...but once again she was stopped as Beast Boy (in pterodactyl form) lifted his other half Charm (who conveniently happened to be nearby, I guess) up to roof level. She was holding a fog lamp, and was chanting a little 'power' spell into it.  
  
"Peek-a-boo!" Beast Boy stated.  
  
"We see you!" Charm finished as the light, encircled by Runes, activated and shone forth. Now the White Hole was completely surrounded, blinded, and unable to do anything. They had her exactly where they wanted her, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it.  
  
Well, at least that was the plan, but as we have seen so many times in the past, things don't always go the way they were planned, do they?  
  
And they didn't, as Rebecca reached back into her cape and pulled out the white gun and started to fire randomly in all directions, in the hopes that she would hit something. The Titans (or all that could) ducked for cover, knowing that with her ears she could probably pinpoint their locations just by their breathing.  
  
She fired the first few shots with little or no effect, and then things started to go pear-shaped. She hit Beast Boy's wing and caused him to let go of one of Charm's arms, forcing her to drop the light. Now with one side clear, she could start to regain control, and she turned, destroying the light that Savior and Raven had provided with a bullseye shot, forcing the couple to jump for safety lest the second bullseye be on them.  
  
Starfire was all that was left. The chopper pilot moved the helicopter in front of Rebecca so the light was still in her eyes. She quickly dived down try and to get away, but what she hadn't anticipated was the fact the pilot carried a side arm, and he was good with it, as he fired down onto the concrete below.  
  
Unfortunately for him, the lack of the two support lights meant he could not shine enough light at her to prevent her from returning fire. He had managed to get one round into her leg, that was all he managed as Rebecca returned fire and shot a hole in his hand AND in his engine from her gun. After the engine shot though, she ran out of ammo for both guns. Thank god for small favours. Or maybe not, as there was a small clatter and the White Hole was far too busy smiling at the turn of events that had played out for her to have come out the worse end. Not to mention the really nasty sound coming from the now damaged machine.  
  
"Screw this! I'm outta here!" The pilot shouted.  
  
"No! We have to stay!" Starfire tried to protest, looking back at the pilot.  
  
"The only thing we have to do is land! Or we're both dead! I'm sorry Starfire!" He said as he flew away, carrying the Tamaranean with him, to try and land before the chopper ran out of fuel or exploded, whichever came first.  
  
With all the lights gone, Rebecca turned back around to Nigel, who was fiddling with a handgun covered in human blood. It was actually the pilot's gun, which had conveniently landed near the Blacktrinian, but there was a problem.  
  
"RAH! Come on!" Nigel cursed. He wasn't having an easy time, as he was trying to use a gun made for people who had four normal sized fingers. Nigel had two large talons in the place of four, which means his fingers were far too large for the 'small' trigger guard.  
  
"Commendable. But a total waste of time." Rebecca said. The White Hole walked, in her ever so condescending way, towards the ill-fated young man, before grabbing and lifting him up with both her claws.  
  
"Your friends have rendered my other weapons useless, so it looks like I will have to finish this with my bare hands." She said as she started to squeeze, trying to destroy his neck and windpipe with her claws. "I am going to enjoy this." Rebecca cracked a smirk as Nigel's thrashing grew sluggish and his breathing slowed and began to stop.  
  
Nigel didn't know what to do, and he was rapidly going helpless. Remember what happens when he gets into trouble he can't handle? His eyes glow and the Blacktrinian survival instinct kicks in, doing something totally instinctual and hoping it works.  
  
It was what made him reach up with his clawed hand and tear at her face quickly. A soggy ripping sound was heard, and he fell to the floor, trying to breath again as she screamed and bellowed, rolling on the ground clutching her face.  
  
"What just happened?" Savior asked as he landed on the roof, trying to find his bearings and the other Titans. But all he saw was the most intact Titan, Beast Boy, alongside their ex-adversary, but something was different about her. Probably the look of pure horror on her face. Beast Boy had the same look, except he was focusing on something.  
  
"Dude... He just... ripped her eye out..." Beast Boy whispered. He pointed forward at a black orb with a yellow centre on the floor. There was no doubt about it, it was an eyeball, and beyond a shadow of a doubt it was her eyeball.  
  
The now one-eyed White Hole stood up, still cradling her wound and looking 900 shades of pissed, and looking like she wanted to pick up where she had left off in her strangulation.  
  
"Hey, CYCLOPS!"  
  
Rebecca turned as Savior lunged forward.  
  
"TOOTH FOR A TOOTH!" Savior yelled as he kicked Rebecca across the face as hard as he could, sending her flying across the roof. Nigel had suffered enough: he'd gladly take a few blows to spare him more pain. Gauntlet thought the same, if his wrist was in one piece.   
  
In the end he didn't have to, as Rebecca got up, snarled, and jumped away, escaping from the battlefield. The still-standing Titans probably could have caught her, but they had their own wounded to deal with.  
  
Especially with Nigel coughing up his lungs trying to breath, and the others laying in pieces around the place trying to scrape themselves together.  
  
And so they gathered up their injured and returned to the tower, but they had a feeling it wasn't over. Rebecca Styles was still out there, watching them with her one remaining eye.  
  
An eye fixed on the idea of revenge.  
  
---------------------------------------  
  
Nigel: Why do I not like the look of the next chapter?  
  
Jedi: Nigel, you have ESP I swear. See you in the next one folks!  
  
Nigel: Gulps 


	13. White Hole: Unlucky for Some

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide, but I DO own some of my own characters.  
  
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Chapter 13: Unlucky for Some  
  
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Here we see a city, but what do YOU see?  
  
When we look out onto a city we see things...but what do we see? (I personally see stress and congestion, but I'm just writing this, not living it). Some may see opportunity, a chance to do something big, or just to earn a few bucks. Others might see a fun day out, going to all those big city stores. Others from other big cities could see just another day at the office. And usually for the Titans, it showed a place where they could usually save the day.  
  
Usually.  
  
At the moment, all that the Titans saw was a path heading to perhaps an inexorable death, a death with no remorse nor anyone to mourn for them. Indeed, it had just started to sink into the Titans what lay for them outside the safety of their island. A deadly foe was out there, almost a demon from hell, with enough vengeful hate to transform them from warm living beings to cold hard carcasses in one blow, if need be and opportunity arose.  
  
"I have realized something." Nigel said, staring out of the window to what could only be described as the city of his nightmares, a place where the Empire he had tried so hard to escape from had turned out to be just a breath away, something that could get you in any corner, in any dark ally. It wasn't doom saying or idle dark thoughts either, just the merciless efficiency of the way SHE played this game.  
  
All the pieces on the board were ready to take this queen, but somehow she had already decimated the ranks of the pawns, and was now eager to get to the rest of the board pieces.  
  
"What would that be?" Noel asked. He had escaped the battle surprisingly uninjured, while everyone else was in ruins. Little comfort, as that just meant he'd be in the front lines for the NEXT battle, which his own grievous injuries most likely awaited him. Quite possibly, even his death.  
  
"Would we even be missed?" Nigel replied, turning around from the rain- filled sky. Dark clouds crowded the skies over Jump City, ones that looked like they could rain for at least several hours, maybe even the whole day.  
  
"Don't talk like that man. Its bad enough we got thrown around like tinker toys." Beast Boy snapped, not in the best of moods. Charm had left the group and gone home to heal her wounds and to try and calm herself down. She didn't like heights at the best of times, but when you get shot at while in mid-air, while being supported and then dropped by your boyfriend; it really makes you think about that fear even more.  
  
"Indeed. We have more important things to worry about." Robin stated. Empty words, perhaps, as he was more banged up and bruised than any of them, even though Gauntlet may disagree to that fact, having been given a free open bone fracture of his arm courtesy of Rebecca Styles. "How can we beat this thing?"  
  
"Don't you get it? She won't stop until one of us is dead. Your human restraints and systems cannot hold her. Not even her wound will slow her much" Nigel snapped. and turned his back on the group once more, trying to think. To beat Rebecca Styles, not just a White Hole but in a class of her own? This may well be an impossibility that no one could overcome.  
  
"But how do we stop her?" Starfire asked, hoping there was some weakness they could exploit. There was a pause.  
  
"Aha! We could drop her in a vat of molten steel!" Gauntlet declared. The Titans looked at him funny. "It worked to stop an unstoppable foe in Terminator 2!"  
  
"And praytell, do you happen to have a vat of molten steel? It doesn't exactly grow on trees." Noel replied tersely.  
  
"Errrrrr...no. Um...AHA!"  
  
"We don't have an industrial press or a mini fusion reactor either."  
  
"D'OH!"  
  
"Stop arguing! It's a waste of energy!" Nigel said. There was silence. All that could be heard was the rain running off the windows, dripping down. It's funny: even though Blacktrinians don't like the water, they love the rain. That was one of the thoughts that Nigel had as he stared out, waiting for death.  
  
Then it occurred to him.  
  
"The water." He laughed. "Why did I not fathom such an idea before?"  
  
"Yo! Dude! This is no time for laughing!" Beast Boy shouted, rubbing the gunshot wound he had suffered.  
  
"Ok, he's obviously gone mad." Cyborg whispered lightly.  
  
"And what makes you say that?" Raven replied.  
  
"How is water going to help us? This isn't the Wicked Witch of the West!" "No...she's just a Blacktrinian! Remember, non-swimming, water disliking species of whom Nigel happens to belong to?"  
  
"Whu?"  
  
Raven shook her head at the fact it took him this long to figure out that the White Hole was of Nigel's race.  
  
"She wouldn't dare cross the water to try and get us. As observed in the swimming lessons, all the Blacktrinians are petrified of water." Raven said.  
  
"So as long as we stay here, we're safe?" Starfire asked, just double- checking to be safe.  
  
"Right, all we have to do is wait until she shows up again. Until that time, we can plan a counter attack." Robin re-assured them, holding onto Kory, who was the only other one who was still in one piece. The only bruise she had gotten was from when she had gotten out of the helicopter and banged her head.  
  
"All I want to know is why the hell a mass murdering psycho alien from your race is suddenly out there to kill all of us." Robin asked, making it sound a little more abrupt then it could have been.  
  
"You make it sound as if it's his fault." Noel commented, rubbing his forehead as he gestured towards the newer alien.  
  
"Well isn't it? After all he..."  
  
"Don't even go there Robin." The white-garbed Titan said, as he cut off his leader before looking over sternly. "This has gotten out of hand. You've been against Nigel from the start, and it's getting VERY tiresome. What the hell's up?" He demanded, his expression never changing. Robin said nothing for a moment or two.  
  
"Yeah Fearless, why have ya been putting him down as of late?" Cyborg asked, in a far more relaxed tone than Noel, as he leaned on the back of the chair, trying to repair his innards. Luckily, his armour had stopped the blast, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell.  
  
"It's my own business." Robin replied tersely. Nigel just shook his head. As tired as Noel might be of the treatment, Nigel, being on the actual end of it, was ten time so. Perhaps it would be better to just leave the Titans? But then where would he go? What would he do? He didn't know, so he continued to stand there and shake his head.  
  
"Bull. Your business is rapidly becoming our business. You started blaming Nigel early on, and you're blaming Nigel again. You blame him more than you tie your boots." Noel countered, waving his arm out and accidentally knocking into Robert, who cringed and held his damaged wrist.  
  
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" He whined, holding the bandage, but by doing so he only made the pain worse.  
  
"Quit complaining! It's your own damn fault for attacking her head on without knowing her physical strength! Fools rush in!" Noel barked.  
  
"Yeah, you don't just walk up to someone who kicked around Fearless and say 'I don't see why they are so scared of you'." Cyborg added, finishing up the repair job as best as he could.  
  
But before they could continue, the island alarm went off. Not in the best of moods, the Titans rushed, limped and floated over to the computer.  
  
Before long, an image came up on the screen of a figure slowly walking towards the entrance. The view was from above, and only in black and white, but they knew who it was just by the look of the hat that they were wearing. Her head shot up as she stared straight into the camera, her one glowing eye shining out, the other socket filled with blankness as the other eye was now absent. Why? If you've forgotten, Nigel had gouged it out trying to prevent her from killing him. The other eye now rested in a test tube in the evidence room  
  
Before any more could be seen, the camera exploded, forcing the picture into static.  
  
"It's her." Cyborg said grimly.  
  
"How'd she find us?" Rob asked, having not gotten much of a look at the image before it turned into static.  
  
"How'd she... We live in a giant T for crying out loud! How can she NOT find us!?" Noel shouted at the 'almost-kleptomaniac' Titan. The sudden apparent danger, as well as the depleted troops and Rob's general "dunceness" had caused Noel's temper to be bordering on fever pitch. Luckily, Raven floated up in front of him and calmed him down before he could lash out at Rob.  
  
"How the hell did she get over the water!" he yelled instead.  
  
"Does it matter? She's here now. As they say on your world, we are all dead." Nigel said, pulling a tube from his jacket. It was about the length of a pencil and the thickness of Robin's staff. He pressed a button and it extended both ways before the sharp bladed end shot out and clicked into place. His glaive.  
  
It's no surprise that the Titans seemed to step back from the young man after that.  
  
"Well, she's at our doorstep. Any ideas?" Robin asked.  
  
"We could pull the same stunt we did with Myth." Beast Boy said, remembering how he had pushed him into the water from the top of the tower.  
  
"We could, problem being getting her up there." Raven said softly, considering her options. Whatever was going to happen, they needed to think of a solution fast: Rebecca was approaching quickly. "What do you think Nigel..."  
  
The Titans turned to him. He was the authority on Blacktrinians at the moment, seeing as he was one himself.  
  
Problem.  
  
"Nigel?"  
  
He wasn't there.  
  
"Why do I feel he's done something stupid?" Raven asked, walking towards the centre of the room and away from the console.  
  
"It wouldn't be the first time." Robin stated, folding his arms. In truth, he no longer cared what happened to the doctor. As long as he didn't get in his way he was fine.  
  
The others gave him a little bit of a look as they waited for the command. Noel had a clear look of disapproval on his face.  
  
"Fine! May as well save him, Titans, GO!" He shouted, as they ran downstairs.  
  
-------------------------  
  
What is in the heart of man and alien alike?  
  
Rage was in the 'guest's' heart. Each step was a step towards it, towards her goal, towards her own...satisfaction. And soon, soon she would have what she desired most.  
  
She was unaccustomed to the way they treated Blacktrinians on earth. Usually, even the lowest is held in high esteem. Usually. But these humans hadn't even acted close to the way they should have acted towards her. They actually had the gall to show her no respect at all! No one disrespected her!  
  
No one who wanted to live, at any rate.  
  
But something was different. Most humans were weak and breakable. These humans were resilient and powerful, more so than even they imagined, and in some way, their willpower kept shining through, willpower and determination to overcome the odds.  
  
And it frustrated her how a group of teenaged upstarts, a pregnant Tamaranean and a deformed weakling from her own race were able to defeat one of the Blacktrinian military police. Only one other person had kicked her around like this, and he was long gone. She was an elite, unbeatable, untouchable! There should have been fear, respect, worship!  
  
Now there was only anger, pure unbridled hatred towards these teenagers. She was in their home now, and they will know her wrath.  
  
Before she could think any more, twin machine guns emerged from the wall and started to fire at her, trying to hold her back as she ascended the stairs. It wasn't enough. Her race may have been vulnerable to bullets, but that point was moot as she used her force field to get close, then took them out with a single slice of her claws. She was in no mood to dodge and prance around, trying to not get hit.  
  
But she had to dodge the next blow, as the person responsible for her new look came swinging in with his glaive to try and take her head clean off. She just managed to duck, but it took her hat off and imbedded it against the wall. Which to her was an even more grievous insult then if he had struck her: no weakling medic should have gotten the drop on her!  
  
She roared and dived at him, tackling him down to the floor. She slashed at his chest, ripping it open and reopening the old wounds that had only just started to heal. He slashed back at her and pushed her off, but it wasn't long before she had him again by the ankle.  
  
"Yo! I think she's on the floor below!" Cyborg shouted as he made his way down the stairs. His observation was proven correct as the floor seemed to explode in front of him, causing the man-machine to step back and try to reassess the situation. As the smoke cleared, the now dust-covered Scalpel was revealed to be in front of him. She had thrown him right through the ceiling by his ankle, and seeing as each floor was reinforced with concrete, it hurt a hell of a lot more then being thrown through a wall.  
  
Time of the incident and time to react, however, are two different things, and Cyborg was still trying to figure out what had happened when the White Hole made her grand reappearance through the same hole, her shoulder length black hair slightly tinted with dust, much like the whole of Nigel.  
  
"Now I will have my revenge!" She shouted in Blacktrinian, as she dashed forward. Before Cyborg knew what was going on she was lifting him off the floor with one hand. She drew back her long metallic talons.  
  
"Whatever you said, not today!" Cyborg said, as he reached up, breaking her grip (he was strong too). He spun her around and placed his sonic cannon against her stomach. Lifting her slightly, he fired, and this time it was her that was sent hurtling through the ceiling and onto the next floor, onto the level where Starfire and Robin were.  
  
There was silence, before the woman sat up and glared at Starfire. Obviously the sight of her just fuelled her rage, as Starfire, a warrior princess of Tamaran, was one of the few people in the tower who could actually kill her. Starfire backed up a little as Rebecca started to stand. Panicking, Starfire blasted open a window and flew out. A little too quickly, as still falling glass resulted in her cutting her stomach a little. This left Robin alone with the monster, but he didn't care: she was with his kid and he didn't want her fighting anyway.  
  
"You stay away from her!" Robin shouted, trying to stare down someone who had single-handedly wiped out an entire civilization once. He pulled out his weapon of choice, trying to play fearless leader as usually, but in reality he was far too weak and battered to actually put up a good fight, and she just ploughed him through a wall.  
  
Unfortunately, it was into Nigel's room, where he had on his wall the weapons that were given to him on his 5th, 10th and 15th birthdays. This, for a weaponless fighter, was like a gold mine, and she grabbed a sword, the Blacktrinian preferred weapon of choice. She felt along the edge: it was a fine weapon indeed. It shone out, its finish of a high polish, but the hilt was demonic, with what looked like veins wrapping up its edges.  
  
"Still sharp." She smirked, as she leapt towards Robin. He was too slow to react, and as he howled she pierced his shoulder, pinning him to the floor.  
  
"I told you toying with me was a mistake human. It looks like you have not only sealed your fate, but everyone's in this tower." She said, as she drew the sword from his shoulder again and raised it high to slice it down onto his head. She brought it down, slicing his skull in half.  
  
Or at least that was what would have happened if a pair of hand held axes weren't suddenly in the way. Axes encased in black energy.  
  
They clashed and both were thrown back. On the other side of the room, Raven was standing, her arms outstretched and her hands dark with the energy she was emitting. The axes both attacked as she commanded them to, slashing furiously at high speeds at Rebecca, actually making contact now and again with a slash that, although it had speed, had little or no attack power. Not to mention the whole "species laughed off bladed weapons" thing. In the end the White Hole just dropped the sword and grabbed both of the axes. The black energy fought for control, but eventually it was more tactical to just let her have the weapons she had grabbed. If she kept struggling, she'd exhausted herself, and Rebecca would probably get the weapons anyway. This way, she had mind energy for later. Good choice, right?  
  
Wrong.  
  
The White Hole noticed that Raven had stopped controlling the axes, and took the opportunity to, with some swiftness; throw them right back at her. Raven threw up a shield, just in the nick of time as they say... perhaps a bad choice of words as the Axes had imbedded into her barrier, stopping literally a fingernail's length away. She sighed a breath of relief, a sweat drop rolling down her cheek. The axes dropped as she regained her composure, and then she floated up another sword, this one much thinner and more rapier-like, abet not as thin as a fencing foil. Rebecca growled at this. How could she fight an enemy with no physical form for her to strike?  
  
Raven lashed out with her arm, as if she was holding the sword, and the floating weapon mirrored her body language as it lashed out at her opponent, swinging wildly, hoping for a hit. Though less disciplined than her foe, Raven's mind power had the same strength as the White Hole's physical prowess, plus she had far more freedom with the weapon, and she able to block usually unblockable attacks because limbs didn't burden her.  
  
"Little upstart! I will make you bleed!" Rebecca shouted, putting all her effort into a swing and knocking the blade back before rushing forward, but Raven wasn't stupid and she lifted the blades lying by her feet up again to try and stop her.  
  
She was a little too late, as the White Hole ducked under the weapons, ripped open the shoulder of her costume and sunk her double fanged teeth into the bare patch of skin.  
  
Raven's face could only be described as one of pure pain and shock. Her ability to think was virtually destroyed, as all that appeared in her mind was the pain of someone actually trying to eat her alive. She screamed, unable to do anything else.  
  
The Blacktrinian pulled back, ripping a little muscle out of her shoulder before going back for another bite. Tears started to roll down Raven's cheeks. There must have been some kind of paralysing chemical in the bite, as she seemed to be paralysed from doing anything, and the pain was becoming unbearable, each sharp tooth piercing her flesh and nerves, and she could even feel one of the fangs scrape against her shoulder blade....  
  
White rope-like objects came to save the day as they ploughed through the wall and did a repeat performance with the Blacktrinian, if you could call grabbing her through the wound in her chest that she has sustained while fighting Nigel that, wrapping around her torso and pulling her through the walls, leaving the goth lovely to try and recover from the transition from Titan to lunch.  
  
On the other side of the wall was a very pissed off looking Savior, as he formed a sword in his hand from the Shimmer he just used to yank their foe through the wall. The White Hole didn't seem to perturbed, despite the blood flowing from he re-opened wound, as she righted herself. She didn't attack straight away; instead she licked the blood from her lips and smirked.  
  
"What are you so happy about?" Savior snarled, holding up the Shimmer sword with a murderous look in his eyes.  
  
"Pretty young girl, all she needs is a little sauce, but other than that it was a first class meal." She chuckled. Savior looked through the hole in the wall at his other half. She was holding her bloodsoaked shoulder, rocking slightly to try and dull the sharp edge of the pain. Savior's eyes narrowed even more as a low but keen snarling noise came from his throat. He turned and leapt at the attacker, his mind so enraged that the Shimmer strands lost their cohesion and fell apart from the sword shape as he lashed out wildly, tackling the intruder.  
  
"DON'T YOU EVER..."  
  
Whatever furious threat Noel had been tossing out was lost to time, as he was cut off when she smashed him across the face with the hilt of the sword she stole. She then grabbed his Shimmer strands and threw him around, dragging his body, and even sometimes (and he REALLY didn't like that) his face across the walls and ceiling before he finally hit the floor. And she wasn't finished there.  
  
In a moment of curiosity, she placed her foot on his back and, with one of the Shimmer strands still in hand, pulled hard, trying to rip the strands out by their 'roots'. As you can imagine, this hurt like hell. It was probably the equivalent of someone trying to play 'operation' with your spinal cord. Noel squirmed, trying to get away. The White Hole just smirked and laughed as she enjoyed picking apart her opponents piece by piece. Cracking was starting to be heard from Noel's back (though it didn't sound like one big crack, like the ones where someone breaks their back, more like the type of crack that happens when you crack your knuckles, maybe that's not so bad, but if she kept going, who knows what will happen...).  
  
Luckily, whatever was going to happen didn't. Before it could get worse, the alien was thrown off of the captive titan by a yellowish force energy and tossed back through the hole that was made beforehand.  
  
"Never fear! Gauntlet here! Remember Savior, I just saved your life. I own you now!" Gauntlet declared, posing a little...before he was tackled down to the floor by a white blur. Rebecca then tried to do a "Gauntlet-ectomy" on the magical glove that was the hero's namesake weapon. He threw up a shield as quickly as he could, but it wasn't enough, as her claws were so sharp, they started to pass through the barrier.  
  
The most relaxed Titan started to lose his composure, his subconscious mind kicking in and creating random shapes to try and throw her off. In the end he just created a large breezeblock shaped object and slammed her in the face with it. And even that didn't work as she kept her clawed hand in the barrier and kept going. In fact, she had now re-doubled her efforts by using her other hand to try and force her claw through the shield.  
  
"Do I have to do everything?" Savior said. He had now recovered from the attempt at removing his spine through his shoulders, and he was now even madder, as he wrapped the Shimmer around her neck and pulled back in an attempt to rip her from the grasp she had in his companion's shield. Needless to say, this did not go down too well with the attacking alien and she turned to deal with the white Titan.  
  
Unfortunately for her, this had been a set up play for the young doctor, who swung with all his might with the flat edge of his glaive, finally knocking her off, through another wall, and into a small room.  
  
"Okay, we're even," Rob stated, a little relieved. A clank was heard as the White Hole stood again. A shot was heard.  
  
"Ragh!" Rebecca screamed, pain shooting up her leg. She had landed in the storage room, or more precisely, on the weapons crate where the Titans had stocked a whole host of firearms. Unfortunately for her, Blacktrinian women had thin toes, one of which got had gotten stuck in the trigger guard of a handgun when the box had collapsed and the weapons had spilled everywhere. The end result was that she had shot herself through the ankle while trying to stand.  
  
"You know, I've heard of shooting yourself in the foot, but that was ridiculous."  
  
Trying to block out the pain, Rebecca turned towards Savior, who stood before her, a grim, angry look on her face.  
  
"White Hole. Fitting. You've put holes in my building, my companions, and my girlfriend." Noel growled as he pulled a shotgun up from the crate and cocked it loudly. "Now I'm going to put a few dozen holes IN YOU!" The shotgun blast went wild as Rebecca demonstrated a remarkable ability to block out pain as she spun on her other ankle, kicking her leg around and knocking the shotgun up. The blast went into the ceiling, even as she pivoted and slammed the heel of her foot into Noel's chest.  
  
He hit the wall hard. Now he was REALLY angry, and he roared as Shimmer stands shot forwards and grabbed handfuls of weapons and prepped them, aiming again. A murderous rage filled his eyes: he was through considering any possibility for mercy or surrender. For all she's done, most of all trying to picnic on his love, he was going to reduce her to bloody vapour.  
  
"If at first you don't succeed, just BRING MORE GUNS!" he yelled, the Shimmer strands squeezing the triggers as the rest of the Titans made it over to see what he was doing.  
  
"NO!" Robin shouted, but it was far too late. A blaze of bullets rampaged through the storeroom, ripping it apart. And while Noel had plenty of reasons to do so, there was one main reason why their leader did not want the white Titan to shoot at their foe.  
  
She was surrounded by explosives.  
  
Which became abundantly clear as detonations erupted all around her. But that didn't lighten Noel's "fingers" on the triggers, as she took more bullets. Even her shield was having trouble keeping the barrage out, as the sheer number of them was draining her Gauntlet-like armour incredibly. It didn't take long before the whole room exploded.  
  
People on the mainland saw a pillar of flames erupting from the upper- middle of the tower, shooting out towards the water. It wasn't any form of picnic for the Titans inside, as they where thrown to the other side of the tower, and some even out. Nigel's claw dug deep into the side of the building as he and Gauntlet, who had managed to grab his clawed foot, hung, trying to regain their composure. Savior had caught the still-bleeding Raven and created a spider web to stop them from shooting out. Robin and Cyborg had moved behind some pillars so the blast didn't catch them...much.  
  
"Everyone okay?"  
  
"Been better." Savior murmured, standing back down and retracting the Shimmer. A harsh growl and some incoherent words were muttered as Nigel dragged himself up to the same level as the others, with Gauntlet in tow (or toe, depending.).  
  
"Well, despite the utter stupidity of that tactical move, at least we got rid of her." Robin said as he approached the damaged room. The walls were scared and burnt, as were the crates behind flame-resistant barriers. Could have been worse. If all of the storage room had gone up, the tower would not be there.  
  
Raven looked up, trying to see the full extend of the damage. Something wasn't right.  
  
Then she found her fault. There was a big gaping hole in the ceiling. How big? Oh big enough for a person. Or to be more precise, a young woman who had just been catapulted through the rooftop by an explosion.  
  
"I don't think we did."  
  
And soon enough, the form of the young Blacktrinian woman came crashing back down on the roof of the tower, her shield generator finally giving up the ghost and frizzing out (it was luckily in mid air rather than amongst all of the previous events She thanked her gods for small favours). Her face now badly burned and her outfit in tatters and her body wracked with pain from the barrage of bullets, Rebecca was not a happy camper. She needed to leave and recover.  
  
"What went wrong, what the hell went wrong?!" She yelled in her own language, staggering to her feet. The humans were weak, breakable, and pathetic! But she was defeated. How?! Why?! Was this a message? Was her time drawing to a close?  
  
Whatever her thoughts were, they dispersed as a young Tamaranean turned towards her, her eyes full of shock at the scarred mercenary. Each of her wounds had been cauterized during the intense heat of the blast, meaning the only place she was bleeding was from her nose, and the only reason for that was because she hit it on landing. Needless to say, with her face scarred up like Leatherface, Starfire was near petrified. She had thought staying on the roof would keep her safe. Apparently she had been erroneous.  
  
"Stay back!" She shouted, backing up a little and holding both her hands out in front of her, green energy glowing from them. She was ignored. The White Hole knew one thing and one thing only at this present moment in time. She needed to retreat and come back with a plan. The distance between the tower and the mainland was quite a way, but a normal Blacktrinian could make the distance (it was how she had gotten on the island in the first place). So she backed up a bit and then charged directly at Starfire, relying on the fear of the Tamaranean to make sure that she didn't shoot at her.  
  
Another grave miscalculation on the part of the White Hole.  
  
Starfire did as her name implies and fired away, taking out the rooftop from underneath the invader, tripping her and forcing her to falter on the last few crucial steps. Starfire continued with the barrage, hoping for anything that the others would appear soon to stop this creature. She couldn't fight in this condition...  
  
I suppose what happened next was a cruel twist of fate.  
  
The White Hole leapt up, but her last few steps were disrupted to the point where she could not longer do a super jump. Instead, when she leapt up, she leapt to grab something, and that something was namely Starfire.  
  
Let me just put this into retrospect for you all. Kory was far, far too heavy for herself, in this condition, when she was trying to fly. She couldn't get up to high speeds, nor could she ascend on her own merit at any great pace. Now add the weight of a Blacktrinian onto that. Because of their metal claws, body armour and capes, they weight almost twice what a normal human would, maybe up to three times more, so this means you have a lot more onto Starfire than she could carry.  
  
"Leave me be!" She shouted at her, trying to shake The Blacktrinian off, but she only managed to throw her off a bit before she grabbed hold of her leg again. She could feel the ligaments pulling, straining to hold everything together. It was starting to become painful.  
  
"If I'm going to join Tempest in the underworld, I'll make sure I take one of you with me! Both is fine by my standards!" She shouted, getting a better grip onto the Tamaranean, sinking her claws deep in her to her calf and thigh.  
  
"STAR!" Robin shouted, coming up onto the rooftop, a little worse for wear (I say a little, but within the last twenty four hours he had been beaten nearly to death, shot, stabbed and almost blasted into near nothingness. I think he may be a little annoyed at this point, as are the others who too had suffered some pretty nasty wounds).  
  
Savior hopped up onto the roof and lifted the guns he had used before with the Shimmer. He spied Starfire, now floating over thin air off the edge of the building with Rebecca hanging onto her. His eyes narrowed, and then narrowed even more as he assessed the situation, and then he lowered them.  
  
"I can't shoot, I might hit Starfire." He growled. They were off the deep end on this one. Starfire was too far away to attack with close combat methods and they were too far away to be 100% accurate with guns or projectiles. She had, essentially, taken Starfire hostage.  
  
"We have to do something!" Cyborg shouted, arming his sonic cannon and aiming, hoping to maybe catch a part of her that wasn't blocked by Star. Unfortunately, as mentioned, this is easier said than done. And if this wasn't bad enough, it was getting worse.  
  
Starfire turned slightly to try and blast her captor, only to have a row of horridly sharp teeth sink into her arm, taking a nasty bite and having her energy escape with a scream. The Titans, seemingly impotent, cursed and frantically looked around for something, ANYTHING to help her. Nothing. After all the events that had happened on top of the tower, you would think they would have a box labelled 'Smash glass in case of overpowered Super Villain'.  
  
Nigel paused. And then reached into his pocket. His clawed fingers wrapped around a metallic object and pulled it out.  
  
"The Pilots gun?" He said quietly. He remembered trying to use it beforehand, but his clawed talons were far too large to fit in the guard. He thought back to earlier that day.  
  
"You make it sound as if it's his fault."  
  
"Well isn't it?"  
  
"It's my fault, and it's my problem to deal with." Nigel said, as he placed his thumb in-between the guard and the trigger and, with an incredible show of strength in his hands, ripped the guard clean off.  
  
"Savior! Make a launch pad!" Nigel shouted as he ran for him at full speed. Noel was caught off guard, and shot up the Shimmer into a shield, unsure what he was going to do. The alien jumped up and landed on the Shimmer, before using it as a makeshift springboard, forcing him upwards, gun in hand.  
  
"What the hell is he doin'?! You crazy freak!" Cyborg shouted as he dashed for the edge. He had shot upwards in such a way that he came down in an arc, aimed straight at the White Hole, his eyes glowing blue and the pistol armed and aimed. Raven, seeing this turn of events, pushed her own pain out of her mind and finally figured out a proper move, encased Starfire in black energy and held her still.  
  
Nigel's jump was very accurate, his own talons sinking into the skin of the aggressor. This was a necessary, though unsure move as it put even more weight on the already struggling Starfire. She screamed out again as the aggressor's claws dug deeper into her. So much pain, she could feel the ligaments and muscles pulling even more, to the point that they started to rip apart from the inside, making their way up her legs and across her distended stomach.  
  
And yet even with so much pain, there was a moment of silence.  
  
Ktch.. BOOM  
  
Nigel started to unload round after round into his opponent, hoping that she would let go before he ran out of bullets. Three rounds had gone into her when she finally let go of the expectant Star and plummeted towards the water's edge, taking Nigel for the ride.  
  
Then the tables turned. In a blink of an eye, the White Hole had turned the weapon on her young foe and fired straight back, catching him in the torso and arms. But Nigel wouldn't break the grip. As they continued to fall, they still fought it out; all the others could do was watch as they both hit the water with a sickening crunch.  
  
Starfire, who had landed on the ground by this time, looked very much worse for wear. Actually, now I read it. I'd say that was going for the understatement of the year award.  
  
"Kory?" Raven asked lightly, floating down. The young Tamaranean was on all fours, a ghastly pale shade of her normal vibrant colouring as she tried to breathe, hacking and spluttering, her arm soaked in her own blood as her maternity jeans started to turn from denim blue to blood red. She looked as if she was going to be sick, her expression as if she was trying to hold back the inevitable. She looked up, dark rings under her eyes before she coughed into her hand.  
  
"R-Raven?" She asked, holding up a blood soaked palm, thick and flowing as it dripped, or rather poured, off her hand. Her expression was one of pure fear. She didn't know what was happening, and people are always afraid of the unknown. "What is happening to..."  
  
She started to be violently sick, but it wasn't just normal ejecta: blood was mixed in with it. Raven's calm exterior had a slightly sullen and alarmed look as she moved the alien's hair from her face. She hoped it wasn't what she thought it was, but there was no way to be certain. She would have asked their doctor, except he was probably drowning at this point in time.  
  
Speaking of the doctor, under the waves it wasn't very calm either. The pair sank deeper and deeper, down into the dark void that was the bay, fighting, struggling. A pair of glowing eyes stared into a singular yellow blaze as the claws fought away at each other, clawing, scratching, tearing at each other's flesh. The White Hole landed a nasty slice across Scalpel's face, ripping it open before he returned the favour and attempted to gut her. Nigel knew he would die if he stayed here, so he tried to move away, however her claw was in too tight to his clothing and she wouldn't let go. Thoughts frantically dashed though his head, how could he get out?  
  
She had said she wanted to drag one of them with her to the underworld, and by all the gods out there she meant it, she wasn't letting go for love nor money, and he was running out of time. It had been strange: here was one of the strongest foes they had ever faced, possessing so much power and an near-invulnerability to any and all of the Titan's attacks, but as Savior always commented, Operation Market Garden had come into play, an unexpected and unforeseeable turn of events that lead to the downfall of a powerful foe. First it was the arrival of Starfire on the rooftops an eternity ago, and against everyone's wishes, that caught Rebecca a little off guard. Then it was the time of day and her origins when they brought out the bright lights, and then it was the foolish leap of faith that Nigel had attempted. No Blacktrinian in their right mind would jump out and over the water to try and stop an opponent. It occurred to him the only reason they won against her was by chance, luck and the use of surprise. If it had been a straight battle like on the rooftops, they would be dead.  
  
And Nigel would prefer that it stay that way.  
  
"Sorry." He thought to himself. "But I actually need to live." And then he grabbed the pistol that was floating down with them and fired one last shot.  
  
Right in the centre of her forehead.  
  
Her eye went wide, filled with absolute disbelief. Then it glazed over, blood streaming from her damaged mouth as she continued to fall as her body stopped fighting. He tried to pull away, but her grip still clung onto his cape. In a fit of Blacktrinian Survival 'blood-lust' as some of the Titans put it, he pulled his Glaive out one last time and sliced off her claw from her. He didn't care, he just needed to escape. Using her body as a platform, he jumped for dear life and headed to the surface, his hopes relying completely on this one jump.  
  
And he really hoped he'd make it, but darkness took him again. He was a regular for passing out at really inopportune times...  
  
-----------------------------  
  
"How many are there?"  
  
Nigel started to hear things, a voice coming from the darkness. It was familiar, he could have placed it if it wasn't for the tone it was in, it was almost... harsh, cold, unwilling to ask such a question.  
  
"Well the two I managed to get weren't too deep, however these last ones are. What are these? I've never seen bullets like this..." A new voice commented in a lighter tone, before a shooting pain shot through the Blacktrinian. His eyes shot open as his body visibly tensed up, a gasp escaping his lips.  
  
"Looks like the morphine has worn off." Someone said. He looked over to see a man in a surgical gown and mask, scalpel in hand. The other was a lot more recognisable; it was Cyborg, also in surgical garb. Nigel tried to speak, but he couldn't manage it. The drugs may have worn off, but they were still in his system, dulling his mind and body.  
  
"Don't worry, we got ya. We got ya." Cyborg said to him, patting him on the arm. His voice was sullen and weak, but to the drugged up Blacktrinian, it was good enough as he just cracked a weaker version of his toothy grin before he was pumped full of drugs again and went straight back into the darkness. Victor felt even lower now as he continued to assist the doctor. They said ignorance is bliss, and Victor knew now it was true.  
  
"Report." A face came on the screen next to them, an angry tone of voice that accompanied it. It was the face of their leader, Robin.  
  
"Scalpel woke up a moment ago; we doused him again and are removing the last few bullets now. He should come around in a couple of hours." Cyborg said, passing the doctor some 3.0 silk to stitch the wound.  
  
"Tell me when it wakes up again. I want a word."  
  
The monitor flicked off. The metal man could only curse as he continued to work. He knew Robin was angry.  
  
He had referred to Nigel as 'it'.  
  
Just as the doctor and Cyborg had predicted, Nigel Hastings awoke again roughly two and a half hours after the operation, his body sore and his mind numb. His eyes opened, then flickered a little, trying to focus on the ceiling, before another face came into view. It was hard to tell who, but when things focussed a little more it turned out to be two faces. Raven and Savior.  
  
"H..." He tried to speak, but his voice was a little weak. "How long...as I out?"  
  
"A day or so." Raven replied softly, checking the bandage on his face. It was getting hard to focus on them again, but even so he could see their emotions. Raven was Raven, but Noel had a slightly wary look on him, an almost worried expression on his features. But worry for what?  
  
"Um... Tim wants to see you." Noel stated quietly. "You think you're up to it?" There was a pause, before the young alien tried to sit up. The room was becoming clearer, and he could see the bandage that covered the goth's shoulder. He also noticed that they were in more casual gear, and that Raven was actually wearing a strapless top so that her usual clothing didn't put pressure on her wound. She also wore a sling to stop her injured arm from moving. Everyone must have gotten beaten up pretty bad. The white Titan helped his friend to a sitting position and nodded. "I'll go get him." He said, wandering off. Nigel breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"I am alive?" He asked quietly as a joke.  
  
"It would appear so." Raven responded in her usual manner, sitting down next to him. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.  
  
"Is everyone okay?"  
  
"Well that would depend." Robin stood at the door, wearing some bandages with his own arm in a sling, much like Raven's. He also had stitches across his face and arms, including those little bits of tape that holds you together when you've had a large cut that was too large for a plaster. Following him was Gar and Noel; they surrounded the bed and waited. "How are you feeling?" Tim asked.  
  
In retrospect Nigel should have gotten the indication this wasn't a mere question: Robin's fists were clenched tightly.  
  
"I'm feeling better, thanks." Nigel replied lightly, smiling. This only seemed to make their leader clench harder.  
  
"Good. Because when I'm done with you, you might not feel as nice!" Robin drew back and slammed his fist straight into the side of Nigel's face, nearly knocking him out of the hospital bed. This went down like a sack of lead bricks, and if he wasn't so injured, Nigel might have retaliated. But he was still groggy from the drugs. Luckily this dimmed the pain down. Again, small favours.  
  
"What the HELL are you doing?!" Noel shouted, pulling Robin away.  
  
"Oh, yeah. As if he didn't deserve it." Beast Boy spat. A tone the changeling didn't much use. He, luckily for him, was on the other side of the tower when all the fighting was happening and missed out on all the extra pain. But he had gained some emotional pain: his relationship with Charm had abruptly ended at his protests to stop her from fighting and her refusal.  
  
"Maybe not, but he did it to save her." Raven said calmly, trying to get Nigel to sit back up with only one arm. Nigel sat there, staring at them, confusion very much the expression on his face. He looked up at Raven's harsh eyes. "You don't know, do you?"  
  
"Know what?" He asked lightly, still trying to get over the shock of being attacked by his leader, after all he had done for him, protecting him, sacrificing himself for the good of the team on more than one occasion. Ok, that didn't sound right. Probably the drugs.  
  
"Oh, just a little fact that YOU MURDERED MY SON!" Robin roared, grabbing hold of one of Nigel's clawed feet and puling him out of the bed and onto the cold hard floor.  
  
"DAMN IT!" Noel pulled Robin off again and tried to fight him back. "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW! You'll pull the stitches!"  
  
"I don't care! You've destroyed Starfire! You destroyed everything! You damn monster!" Robin screamed as he shoved Noel aside and stamped hard down onto the young man's chest, hurting the man badly. Noel grabbed him again, turning him around before going to slug him one, but Robin countered and threw him into Raven before continuing his assault. He had gotten three very hard hits in before a yellow barrier encased the newest Titan, and Robin's hand just bounced off.  
  
"..." For once the owner of the shielding, Robert Candide, didn't have something to say. He just stared coldly at his so-called leader as he descended from the roof, ala Spiderman.  
  
"You okay buddy?" He asked lightly, helping up Nigel back into the bed and to a sitting position. Nigel didn't know what was going on. After fighting to the death with someone who would gladly kill them all, he was being treated like a criminal himself.  
  
"You know why the baby died? Huh?" Robin shouted at the now bleeding alien. "You doing that stupid move and jumping on Starfire to try and rip off the other of your kind. You Blacktrinians are all the same; you do nothing but maim and destroy!"  
  
"And what would you have done in his place?" Raven asked, finally recovering and standing up, her shoulder now bleeding again and her sling on the floor so her arm hung loose. Noel had banged his head when Robin had thrown him and was trying to shake of the grogginess.  
  
"I would have done something, something so that we all would have come out of it happy!"  
  
"Any longer... and she would have... killed Starfire." Nigel spoke, wiping the blood from his mouth.  
  
"Don't you dare speak her name monster!" Robin bellowed. He marched over to Nigel's jacket; it was a fresh one with no holes in, pressed and pristine. He reached inside and grabbed an object, small and round. He pulled it up and pocketed it. It was Nigel's comm-link.  
  
"Nigel Hastings, from this moment on, you are out of the Teen Titans. You may not enter the tower, nor are you under insurance of our Super Hero group. You have twenty four hours to pack your bags and leave."  
  
"That's it. BACK OFF ROBIN! What happened was a tragedy, but it's no more Nigel's fault then it's my fault for not being able to get a shot off at that bitch! You're letting your personal feelings blind your damn judgement!" Noel yelled, finally shaking the cobwebs loose. "He's a good fighter, loyal and honest! You stab him through one of his hearts and he keeps going!"  
  
"He's also the only damn doctor we have who doesn't charge billions of dollars in cash each time we get a minute cut." Rob interjected, getting a glare from Noel.  
  
"Look, all we are saying is that you are thinking too much with your heart and not enough with your head." Raven stated.  
  
"I have to do what is best for the team, and as the leader, what I say goes! He is dangerous, absent-minded and suicidal! What more can I say! He killed an infant! He shouldn't even be going free! He should be in an electric chair!"  
  
"Alright Mr. Judge, Jury, and Executioner! What about all the things you have done that wasn't in the most brilliant of moves?" Noel demanded, raising a finger at Tim. He heard a few "ow's" behind him and looked over at Raven, who was trying to put her arm back in the sling. "Looks like you pulled the stitches." Noel said softly.  
  
"Hey Nigel, you think you can..." Rob started as he looked back to where the Blacktrinian was. Or at least he would have if he were still there. Rob stood up quickly and looked around.  
  
His jacket had gone, so had his hat and himself. All that was left was the window, wide open to the midnight sky, the curtains fluttering and claw marks on the window sill.  
  
Then there was silence.  
  
------------------------------------------  
  
Jedi: FINALLY!!!!!!! GAH! FINISHED!  
  
Nigel: that took too long. As usual please review.   
  
Jedi: And don't worry, this isn't the last chapter.   



	14. Viridian: Justification through Grievanc...

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide but I DO own my own characters.

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Chapter 14: Justification Through Grievance

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And so as it went, time ever marched on, and a new day came.

And so there was stillness in the hearts of the Titans as they tried to regain what they had lost of the tower and of themselves. When the battle was finally over, they didn't think that the White Hole had actually done anything to them that she had specifically intended, but then again, she had done what she had set out to do and that was to destroy.  
  
Of course it wasn't only life she destroyed, but routine, and sanity, which can be more devastating than losing a life, as once you have lost your mind you are living in your own hell.  
  
Gone but still alive.  
  
As for gone and still alive, life was trying to return to normal after the departure of their second alien guest. But as they say, once two rivers join they can never become distinct again, and Nigel had left his mark on the others. For better or worse, he was in their minds and even though he may have messed up every so often, he did prove his worth on more than one occasion.  
  
But it was too late. Robin didn't want anything to do with him, and what the leader said went. This didn't sit too well with some of the Titans, but then it didn't matter as long as he didn't let it affect his work, right? And this was Robin we were talking about, protégée of one of the most famous super heroes in the world, Batman. And every one knew how cold HE was, or at least could be.  
  
But things were different, and it didn't seem for the best. There were gaps where Nigel had once been at the table and in the lounge. Some of them felt sorry for him, he was only trying to do what was right. Others felt that he was okay, but shouldn't have done what he did in order to try and save Star, instead he should have waited. And then there were those who were more than happy to see him leave, thinking he was nothing but a parasite, sponging off the people around him and their emotions before he destroyed them all.  
  
This, however, affected moral and one by one the group was spiralling down into their own pit of depression. Kory Anders had been sent away to a special facility to heal and to try and get over the shock of it all. Raven had looked in on her once only to see a shell of her former self, weeping into a large stuffed toy as she held it, not looking like she would let go. They said she would be back when she felt she was ready, but she had told Gauntlet that she didn't want to blame Nigel for what he did...she just wished he hadn't done it. And she tried so hard not to blame him as she knew what the White Holes were like, monsters one and all, but she couldn't forgive him, no matter how much she wanted to. It must be hard when a friend accidentally kills your baby, no matter how unintentional it was. The pain may never go away.

Robin did nothing and said nothing, he would stand quietly and try to rationalise things out and why they went the way they did. It's almost amusing in the way he had finally gotten used to the idea of having a child only to have it stripped away from him.

Almost.

He was on a MAJOR anti-New Titans drive (no, not the story stupid.). He vetoed all applications for Titan or Honorary Titan-hood and was even putting the squeeze on the Titans that (despite being there for a while) were not in the original five. He had wiped Nigel, Noel and Rob from the main computers and the only one they were left on was the computer in the Medical bay as no one could enter that as the password was in Blacktrinian. The final irony was that the man he banned had the last laugh as he and his friends would be immortalized on the computer that Robin himself had installed to make the lives of the Titans easier, along with the fact that he was a master at cracking a computer, and yet he couldn't unlock the secrets within. Still, he had wiped them from the other computers, and worse, he hadn't told them, and this could be a problem, for if Noel ever found out just what their leader had done he would go ballistic.  
  
As mentioned before, Beast Boy had fallen out with Charm. Despite their overwhelming love for one another, the terrible incident had made Beast Boy think, and he asked, or rather demanded, that Charm never fight crime again. Charm, being the emotional person she is, blew up in Beast Boy's face and asked why. He wouldn't explain why but instead started to shout back trying to make sure that she would be 'safe'. Unfortunately this ended up with Charm packing her bags and storming out of Jump City, shouting back 'I hope my Brother comes back and kicks some sense into you'. It was indeed unfortunate as she did not realize that Cyborg's old girlfriend was killed by a racist group known as the ASP, the Anglo-Saxon patrol, who took her and used her as bait to draw in Cyborg. Beast Boy could never let that happen to anyone he cared about. Maybe it was better this way?  
  
The other Titans were not effected by this as much as the others, though they too were feeling a little down. Even when Raven gave Noel a special brand of herbal tea with some relaxing properties, it didn't help elevate the doubt and worry that turned in the cogs of his mind. He wondered that perhaps it was all a sign, the ever-increasing difficulty of the villains, the team breaking apart; perhaps this was a way of telling them that the Titans were over?  
  
Gauntlet continued to work on what he could, adding his own little gadgets onto the T-car when and as he pleased, but Tim's new found hate for the 'greener' titans meant he had been restricted on what he wanted to do. With Nigel gone, the unfortunate Robert Candide bore the brunt of their leader's rage as the only reason he was even near the team was because of the famous court order that Noel had forgotten to reject, but he still smiled through it all, laughing and joking, attempting to cheer people up in his own casual way. It kind of worked in places, but it still wasn't enough.  
  
They were all too deep in thought to notice the lift rising and opening on the floor with Cyborg and Beast Boy, the former letting the latter win on videogames to try and cheer him up.  
  
"Hey guys, what's up?" A cheerful voice intersected the gloom and doom of the tower. The pair turned towards the lift, their eyes a little wide.  
  
"Terra?!?" They called, purely amazed. Before Nigel had joined there had been a large battle, though the details were very vague to him, known as "The Last Wish", and he knew that one of the Titans had left because they used up their powers so much that it had actually disappeared for a short while. Terra was that Titan, and now she had returned.  
  
The veil of darkness that seemed to cover the emotions of the Titans was, for at least a brief period of time, lifted at the return. She was safe and unharmed, unlike some of the members of their team. However even with all the laughs and smiles, she could tell something was off. There's something about women; they are able to see though most things. It's almost a second sense.  
  
"Okay, why is everyone acting like the end of the world is around the corner?" She asked, her smile fading. Just then the alarm, which always had a habit of interrupting serious talks, went off.  
  
Talk about saved by the bell.  
  
"Just great." Cyborg muttered as he ran towards the consol, reading the information that had been gathered.  
  
"What have we got?" Terra asked, standing next to the huge Titan, trying to peer over his metaphorical shoulder, as trying to read over his real shoulder was impossible for someone of her height, though she HAD grown a few inches since the last time they saw her, much to Beast Boy's dismay. So he stood behind her for a little bit and tried to judge the height to see if she was indeed taller than her. Much to his alarm, she was.  
  
"I'm not picking up any life signs, so I'm guessing it's a machine, and it's moving pretty fast." The metal Titan started to key in codes to try and determine more.   
  
"Where?" Gar asked, leaning slightly on the screen.

"Down by the cliff roads, we can make it if we hurry. That way we can use the terrain to our advantage." He replied, darting away from the consol and to the elevator.  
  
"What about the others?" Terra questioned, looking back at the monitor before following.  
  
"We'll call 'em if we need 'em!" He bellowed, grabbing his keys to the Titan brand hatchback. Back two minutes and already she was dealing with some random super villain. What is it with the newer members and having to deal with over powered opponents?

--------------------------------------------

If this was a movie, we could fade into the cliffs some time during the day with race music on, trying to set out the pace of the scene, but as this is literature I have to describe it in a more indepth manner.   
  
The screeching of tires could be heard from quite a distance away as the police cars wound around the tight curves that was the winding rock face side road. There was another sound, and no I don't mean the sirens either. It was more like a tapping sound... actually it might have been a clanging sound but what ever it was it sounded as if it was running, but faster than any human could run. This running pace was going at approximately fifty miles an hour and showed no signs of slowing down even around corners.  
  
The Titans saw this person, or thing, coming from afar and they could see the speed that it was running at, but it was too far away to tell exactly what it looked like. This was frustrating, as they couldn't do anything until the figure stopped running because if they shot a it, the cop cars also risked getting hit as they were driving too close, and Terra couldn't do anything as the same went for a barrier made out of stone. Even in a cheetah form, Beast Boy would have trouble keeping up around such a road. No they would have to play the waiting game.  
  
Luckily, they didn't have to play it for long, as the figure started to catch on that running wasn't working, so the figure decided to give stopping a try. And when I mean stopping I don't mean slowing down or even skidding.  
  
I mean just stopping.  
  
In a road runner style, or perhaps in a Sonic the Hedgehog fashion, the person stopped dead and the cars shot past it. No skidding, no slowing down, not even a second step to stop the figure from falling over. Just stopping as if there hadn't been running at all, as if the figure had been preceding at a slow walk instead.

The imbeciles that were driving decided to try and do a movie trick and skid around 180 degrees to pursue. The only problem was that both drivers developed the unfaltering need to do it, and as you need both sides of the road for such a stunt, you could tell there were some disastrous consequences. Let's just say their insurance premiums have just gone up. At least none of them seemed to be hurt. The figure didn't even stop to see its handy work, it just turned and spirited down the side of the cliff.  
  
Crazy, no?  
  
The Titans, who were a little more shocked than they would let on, started to make their way to assist the police officers. It was strange, but how could it run so fast? Something that was that inhuman. Beast Boy had never seen someone run like that, except the Flash, Impulse, and other heroes tapped into the Speed Force, and you couldn't keep up with them or see them, just blurs. To see something running that fast, to actually see their legs moving as if they were in a Sonic the Hedgehog videogame, it was incredible.   
  
"What are you doing?"

Terra turned to see Cyborg confronting Beast Boy, who was searching around the ground for something.  
  
"I want to find the dime it stopped on." He sniffed around a little more before Terra questioned the idea of it all. The idea was ludicrous at best, a person running at such speeds then stopping instantly. Even the Flash didn't stop instantly; it would be unearthly for anyone to do so. "You realise what this is, don't you?"  
  
"No but I have a feeling you'll tell us anyway..." Cyborg sighed, not wanting to hear another one of Beast Boy's random theories. He remembered the one when Starfire ate all the tofu in the T-tower and he said it was the work of a vegetarian vampire, who was too tempted by the tofu to take anything else.  
  
"This is the work of..."  
  
"Here it comes." Terra sighed and braced herself to the ludicrous idea that was surely to follow.  
  
"...Wayne Enterprises!"

There was a pause. There was a look of honest, and a little relieved, surprise on the faces of the other two titans, they were expecting space monkeys from Tamaran or zombie Blacktrinians or something really, really random like that.  
  
"That was surprisingly tame for you BB, what makes you think that?"

Beast Boy suddenly had an air of arrogance about him that only occurred when the phrase 'I know something you don't know' was able to come into play.  
  
"Elementary my dear Cyborg!" At this point, Garfield Logan changed from Beast Boy, master of animals, to Sherlock Boy, teen investigator. "As I was searching for the ever elusive and ever proverbial dime in which it happened to stop on, I came across this, a small tag." He held up a small scrap of cloth and pulled out (from where no one knows) a huge magnifying glass and looked down on it. There was a time and a place for these sorts of antics, and at this very moment Cyborg didn't think this was one of them. But, for once, he was right on the mark as the scrap of cloth clearly said 'Wayne Enterprises'.  
  
"Well I'll be..." He stated, shocked that his friend had actually used his brains for once.  
  
"Now all we'll need to do is find out were it went." Terra said, smacking her fist into her palm. She seemed to be back to full confidence. The rumours in the media said she left because of personal differences, that she wanted to get a singing career or that she was arrested. None of the above was true, what had happened was a little... unusual. They had met many metahumans but Terra was the first one they knew personally to lose her powers. How or why was unknown but it was because of this, and a sudden loss of confidence, that she left, never to return. Well maybe not for the never return bit as she has come back but that's beside the point. Beast Boy thought she'd never return and so did Gauntlet. But she was back with a regained confidence.

That confidence quickly faded and was replaced by a little fear as she looked over the shoulder of Beast Boy and saw the creature climb back up the cliff and pick something else off the ground, what looked like a motor or some form of machine. The creature reached down and put it back in it's leg and turned to be on its way, though now with a serious limp. It seems that quick stop didn't do it any good at all. I suppose that's what you get for trying to mess around with the laws of physics.

"Hey!" The green Titan called out. He had intended to move but Cyborg halted his actions.  
  
"Don't move. I mean it. Don't make any sudden moves." Cyborg stated as he moved slowly towards the creature, and the creature limped towards him, slowly moving into the light, the footsteps of both were becoming more like clangs than actual steps. Then it, or rather she, could be seen.  
  
Her skin was of a pale and almost grey turquoise with red and black hair in the most extreme of both colours. Her face was lifeless as it stared blankly into the eyes of the tin Titan, dark black orbs staring into the very soul of a person, inching ever deeper, trying to find something in which to intimidate you with. Her hair was done high and spiked backwards, never touching her back or shoulders. Her attire was a little unorthodox but it was indeed what she wore at the time. Her clothing seemed to be a patch work dress, sown together with large stitches and with little care for appearance as the stitches stood out quite a lot. Each section was made with a different style of cloth, a different texture and colour making it seem like it should belong to Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. An orange sash acted like a belt around her middle. The shoulders were puffy and lead down to black and white striped sleeves that carried on down to her hands that were defiantly mechanical. Her legs followed the same patterns as her arms, black and white stripped, but this time it was her actual legs that were like this rather than any clothing over the top. Her knee had burst open, showing mechanics and that servo that she had picked up and replaced. Her feet were small and covered in little black shoes, which were slightly worn because of the running she had done. The last thing that caught his eye was that she was packing the biggest rifle he had ever seen, strapped to her back as if it was made of polystyrene.  
  
With all this in mind, Cyborg deduced that it had to be the Android from the newspaper.   
  
Silence.

Enough silence so that you could hear the breathing of the living and the moans of the dead. There was so much silence that you could even hear the wires in the mechanic's leg fusing themselves back together with sparks of heat. So much silence that the planet itself groaned as it aged, seconds going by that seemed more like minutes.   
  
Unfortunately, before he could question her, Terra panicked, obviously a little scared of the firepower this particular android was packing. And obviously she didn't see the docile nature in which the robot had composed itself into, as she decided to literally rip a side of the cliff off and throw it.

This so-called foe ducked under the first barrage of rocks and lifted her large rifle. It looked like most rifles, except it had four tubes on top of it, two a glowing green colour on either side of the barrel, while the other two were on top of these but soon changed into a more upright position. These had a more metallic feel to them as even in dim light you could see the welded seams and the factory stickers. The long barrel scraped along the ground as she aimed and fired, a devastating blast erupted from within, decimating all that was in front of her.

Luckily for the Titans, they had learned one very useful skill with all the villains they faced. How to duck.  
  
"She almost frizzled the do!" Beast Boy shouted as he covered his precious hair with his gloved hands, lest she get even closer and actually set it alight with all the flammable hair products he must use.  
  
"At least she didn't hit us." Cyborg consoled him, also having hit the deck in a most painful way. He now needed a plaster for his bleeding chin.   
  
"Dude!! She nearly hit the DO!" He pointed again to re-emphasize his point. Cyborg sweatdropped.  
  
Another brief pause as Terra breathed a little, trying to compose herself. The rain started, lightly at first but soon turning torrential. The android with her rifle still had it raised and unmoving, her finger still on the trigger as she stared, piercing into the very essence of Terra.   
  
"Are you the Titans?" The metallic woman broke the silence, taking the first move.  
  
"We are." Cyborg replied, each taking it slow and steady. In chess the first logical move is to move a pawn and the second logical move is to move a pawn to match it. Much is the same way with negotiations. You don't want to be too extreme or you might lose. But then again the opposition of a political party wasn't armed with a cannon. Usually.  
  
"I wish to claim asylum."

Bet you didn't see that coming.

There was a pause, not unlike when you expect a tumbleweed to drift past when someone said something dumb.  
  
"I beg your pardon?" Terra asked, her hands lowing slightly, as was the rifle of the android. There was a dumbfounded expression on their features at the request that the android made. Could someone claim refuge with the Titans? Well one would think not, but then again the teenage protectors were a form of security, and so it seemed only natural to be asked this. Sort of at any rate.  
  
"I wish for the Titans to protect me." She stated again, her weapon finally finishing its return trip to her back. Her movements were non-threatening, but the Titans didn't wish to cause a full-scale shootout, so they still took things cautiously.  
  
"Yo! I don't know who you are but we are NOT a body guard service!"

Or at least two thirds of the team were. Young Mr. Logan had had enough with this person and had stepped up to complain about the fact she nearly, abet not actually hitting, but _nearly_ touched his hair with the rifle blast. Luckily the senior member here stepped in.   
  
"Why do you want us to protect you? And from who?" Cyborg asked his fellow mechanic.  
  
"The police now a days are in the pocket of those I want to escape from, and those same people are my creators." She said in a clipped, monotonous voice.  
  
---------------------------------------------

And so the Titans had decided to take her back with them to their home, the famous Titan Tower. On the outside it was a pillar of strength, towering over what menaces lurk inside the city. In reality it was nothing more than a shell, the inside as ominous as the dark clouds that covered the sky.  
  
"So where were you?" was the first question that was demanded upon their arrival, their leader waiting.   
  
"We ran into complications on our mission." Cyborg replied, before looking past Robin to see Raven holding her stomach and crouched over a little, looking a little worse for wear.  
  
"Um... Has Noel gotten her..." Gar started, before Robin shot in front of him, a deep and menacing look in his eyes. Eyes that screamed at Gar to finish his sentence, but even he knew not to. The white slits for eyes may have never betrayed anything, but the clenched teeth said more than enough.  
  
"For your information, we ran into a problem ourselves. I will brief you later." Tim said though his teeth; almost trying to fight a rage so intense that it seemed to have ignited a fire inside of him, one using kerosene as fuel for short though powerful bursts.  
  
"Hey Fearless, we have a guest downstairs in the lobby who wants, of all things, the Titans to protect her." Cyborg finished, only to hear a splutter as Noel spat out his coffee, luckily back into the mug in which it had just came from.  
  
"And may I ask why?" He questioned, wiping his mouth with a white cloth.  
  
"She said that the police are in the pocket of those trying to capture her." Terra spoke up, the first time from when she had gotten to her home. In all honestly she was starting to feel uncomfortable, and it was turning from a home into a house. And there's a big difference in those two words.  
  
"Impossible. I have personally weeded out the crooked police in this town; there isn't one of them who would sell themselves out or plant evidence." Robin stated, once again drawing his attention onto himself. Noel calmly walked passed and handed Raven her cup of herbal tea.  
  
"They are people, not plants." He corrected his leader. In the white Titan's eyes, Robin had dropped down a few pegs, but he still had respect for him, as a leader. He has just gone though one of the most stressful periods of his entire life, and yet he still carried on with the same tenacity and determination he always had. As long as you didn't mention a few things.

"Well you can meet her if you like, she is downstairs." Cyborg thumbed behind him.  
  
"GAUNTLET AWAY!" Rob Candide, who appeared from seemingly nowhere, shouted as he dashed out to meet their new 'guest'. Tim did wonder about him as a Titan, and had officially decided there and then that he would check when Rob's time here was up according to the court, because as soon as it is he might send him on his way.  
  
"Great first impression." Savior groaned as he placed his hand over his eyes. Then something twigged inside of him. "When did you get back anyway?" He asked Terra, a little confused.  
  
"Um..."

And so she explained what had happened within a few hours of her arrival, the highs and lows and how she nearly bought it at the hands of the maniacal mechanical menace. Cyborg then told them that not only was she blowing it out of proportion but making the guest sound like a worse criminal than Sword. She just shrugged at this, as she had never heard of this Sword character.  
  
"Well now you're back, which is good as we are down a few members now." Noel said. His opinion on Terra was pretty nonchalant in comparison to the others, though on the scale of liking with Rob at one end and his other half Raven at the other, Terra was leaning towards Rob a little, though he did appreciate the fact that now both their aliens were out of commission, having a older Titan back was a godsend.   
  
"Hey, where is Kory anyway?" she asked, looking around for the young Tamaranean.  
  
"Well she is..."  
  
"She had to go down to Washington and won't be back for a while." Robin interrupted. He turned to leave in order to greet this new guest before Gauntlet corrupted her too much or inadvertently turned her into an enemy, leaving only a bemused expression on the earth Titan's face and slight annoyance on everyone else's.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"So you are the new guest." Robin said as he found the android being interrogated; her expression was as unimpressed as it was devoid of emotion. Se turned slowly towards her host and stood, ignoring the relentless questions from Candide.  
  
"That I am." She extended her hand as a polite greeting, but Robin refused to acknowledge it, refusing to even shake her hand while she had the rifle on her back. She just continued on, her hand going back down to her side. "My designation is V-31210149, but the scientists called me Viridian."  
  
"What is your business here?" Robin asked abruptly, folding his arms. "And be quick."  
  
"I will speak plainly then. I wish for the Titans to protect me from the forces of the laboratory that bore me into this world." There was a pause.  
  
"We are not bodyguards." Robin said again, as he already started to turn away from her. In his mind, this conversation was over.  
  
"Then how about as a part time Titan?" She stated, her cold droning voice cutting the silence like a person who drags their nails across a chalkboard. Robin twitched a little before he turned back on his heels, making Gauntlet back up a little, unsure whether he would explode or not. She just continued.

"From what I know the Titans had nine members to its forces, and from what I can sense you now only have seven Titans at your disposal. If you will not protect me, then perhaps I can be of some service as you seem to be missing the two who are known as Starfire and Sc-"

She was cut off as Robin dashed forward and got right into her face.  
  
"He was never a part of this team! He was nothing more than a mindless animal!" He shouted at her with such volume, distain and passion you would think he was shouting at someone a mile away (who he hated). She never even blinked; she just took a cloth and wiped his spit from her face.  
  
"I must inform you that I was not built with a fear chip and so your intimidation methods will not work." She replaced the cloth and continued to stare into his eyes, her harsh black orbs never blinking, not betraying any emotions whatsoever, but then again the white slits that Robin's mask presented had intimidated many an opponent, staring down the fiercest of monsters. They just stared at each other for a moment or two, trying to be the one that backed the other down.  
  
"We'll talk to the others about it." Robert intersected, putting his hand between the two to try and break up this little argument. "You just wait here and enjoy the view." He pushed Robin away and led him to the lift before his leader shrugged off his hand in a rather violent way. And so she waited, each minute passing by as she quietly reflected this decision to come quietly.  
  
Upstairs, several stories up in fact, the rest were in a heated argument over this newcomer.  
  
"I say we protect her! After all we are the good guys!" Cyborg bellowed, slamming his fist down on the table, making the cups and things jump a little.  
  
"Well I disagree. Remember when we get a new member, temporary or not, not only do we have to fight the sludge monster..."  
  
"Mortimer."  
  
"...Mortimer, but we also have to go through all the pain and hassle they cause when they leave us to go somewhere else or to do something else." Robin finished as he stood up to emphasize this point.  
  
"Tim, you have been running us all ragged for the past few days, perhaps getting some help from the honorary Titans we have enlisted over the years might help?" Raven stated lightly, reading while listening to the conversation. This angered Robin much in the same way a teacher would be. He leaned over and stole the book from her light grasp, then slammed it shut, more likely than not damaging a few pages. Raven's eyes were ablaze as she saw a page, now creased, sticking out of the edge of the book. Noel just placed one hand gently on her un-injured shoulder. After all it had only been a little while since Ni... You-know-who left and even her powers couldn't take away the pain completely as the skin had to completely reform and the muscles needed to grown back.  
  
She had been lunch for the White Hole after all.

Noel calmly took the book back with the Shimmer, folded back the page that was crinkled, and placed it under a larger, heavier book to try and repair the damage.  
  
"She has a point. In the last few days we have been doing non-stop training and when we so called 'newer' Titans try and take a break and relax with our friends and loved ones, you blow up on us and start accusing us. I think it's time we put that communicator of yours to work and to try and get the help we so deserve, either that or except the offer that..."

Before Noel could finish, his watch bleeped and he stood up with Raven. "Now if you excuse me, I have to take Raven to the hospital to have her shoulder re-bandaged."  
  
"Would have been so much better if Nigel was still here, he could have done it within a few seconds." Cyborg stated, leaning on his palm. Terra looked up at him in a confused manner.  
  
"Who's Nigel?"

Of course no one had told her of the alien, as when ever he was partially mentioned, Robin would interrupt and change the subject. This time he was pre-occupied with discussing things with Beast Boy and so didn't catch the conversation until his name was mentioned and the sentence had finished.  
  
"While you weren't here, a guy joined up and was our doctor, until he..."  
  
"Until he DESTROYED EVERYTHING!" Robin roared, slamming both hands in open palms on the table, bringing everyone's attention towards him. "And I said that he shall NOT be mentioned! What part of that didn't you understand!? He is gone and good! I hope he dies in a sewer for all I care!"  
  
"Tim..." Raven started.  
  
"No Rae! This time I'm serious!" He shouted, his fist clenched. "Don't you see what this is doing to us?! New members come in and they ruin the way we work! They don't help, they only screw things up! And this includes your white haired fairy princess that hangs on you like a lost and stray puppy! I remember the whole Asphyxiation business! Where the guy nearly killed us all because your 'other half' had similar powers! Where he killed all those women to try and get to you! If you hadn't come here those women would still be alive! And let's not forget your father..."  
  
Let's just say Noel snapped.

Throwing his fist at Robin with such alarming speed that even he was taken by surprise, but it still wasn't enough to catch the Teen Wonder off guard as he caught the fist and reversed it so that Noel's arm was behind him in a rather uncomfortable position, but it didn't stop Noel as the Shimmer activated itself and grabbed Robin by the leg, throwing him away.  
  
"If you think you are so perfect, then BRING IT ON!" Noel shouted, diving at their leader, or he would have, if Raven hadn't caught him in a little bubble that encased his body. She landed him next to her and held onto his arm. He growled but nodded, and switched tactics, going from a physical assault to a verbal one.

"No human is perfect! Everyone is different and sometimes things happen that we cannot predict! Hindsight is always 20/20 and almost always pointless! What happened was a harsh and cruel twist of fate! But don't label all of us in the same fashion as your opinion as Nigel! Even HE doesn't deserve that label!" He yelled as the pair left.

Robin sat there, rubbing his head for a moment or two, wondering what just happened. He stood up and straightened his mask and outfit, and then marched quickly out the door.  
  
"I need a drink, if you excuse me." And so he left, going into the kitchen, but not stopping, he kept going out the other side and towards his office with the Titan's main computer in it.

The others waited patiently, reserved in their own opinions of their leader and what he had just done and said. The fact was, he had just alienated two of the most useful Titans in the group and now they might leave the Tower for good after such treatment. Cyborg could see where Robin was coming from. Nigel's departure had started to tear apart the Titans, but it wasn't Nigel's fault.

It was the one living in the glass house that had started throwing stones.

He saw the tragedy unfold again through memory; he saw the crying and the blood, the saddened eyes of Kory, her pain...but it wasn't Nigel's doing. He wouldn't ever hurt his friends of his own will. He would never want that. But Robin was repeatedly forcing upon them that Nigel was the sole blame, yet he was the one still here and making their lives miserable...  
  
The sound of sirens caught them and pulled them out of the proverbial sea of doubt and angst as the remaining Titans rushed to the window.  
  
"The cops?" Gauntlet asked, climbing on the ceiling with the power of his namesake device.  
  
"Yeah, but..."  
  
"What's wrong Vic?" Gar asked, as he jumped over and landed on his large friend's shoulders, as his metallic hands pressed against the window.   
  
"They're heading this way! Towards the tower!" He exclaimed, looking down as the bridge to the mainland rose up out of the water as squad car after squad car dashed across it, soon to be followed by a SWAT van. This made the Titan's even more concerned, but what finally made them dash to the doorway to see what the hell was happening was when they got the battering ram out and tried to break into the tower.  
  
What they missed was a hail of rifle shots that went through the door and destroyed each and every van and car out there, without harming a single person.

-------------------------------------------------

When they arrived at the lobby, they saw Viridian on one knee, her rifle prepped and aimed at the door which now seemed to have a few 'speed holes' in it.  
  
"It seems you have betrayed me." She spoke in her usual dull, though surprisingly soft tone as she stood, not turning towards them.  
  
"Dude! We didn't do anything! We were all up in the main room discussing if you should be protected by us or not!" Beast Boy jumped in, but soon cowed away when her head turned towards him. He didn't want his hair to be set alight. There was a pause.  
  
"Where is your leader?" She asked, her head turning back when the bangs had started again from the police outside. Once again she prepared to fire, but didn't for a moment or two. Everything seemed still, except for the bangs, which were coming louder and faster. It looked like the last stand made in some monster movie, which scared Terra beyond belief as she recalled the situation before with the mutant monster Aberration and her involvement when it had attempted to escape Star Labs.  
  
"Don't know." Gauntlet called, his eyes darting around to try and find their leader.  
  
"Right here!" Robin jumped down from the ceiling and next to the android. "They must have followed you here."  
  
"That seems logical, though I still have my doubts." She commented, her rifle never moving, never faltering from its point. It didn't even move a little, it just stayed there, as if it was on a stand being displayed for all to see. And of course, in a way it was. Who in their right minds would look at that rifle being pointed at them, its aim accurate to a hundredth of a degree and not be a little worried?  
  
"All that matters now is to get you out of here. We don't want the tower shot up in a match of firepower between you and the SWAT team out there."  
  
"Are you the same Robin that went all crazy on us upstairs?" Rob asked, poking Robin to make sure he was real.  
  
"Three words; sympathetic radioactive clone." Beast Boy said, appearing in-between them only to be pulled out the way by Terra.  
  
"No, not a clone, but Noel did make me think about a few things and so I want her to get away. I have a plan, I'll lead her to the Helipad where she'll be picked up by a friend while you guys try and stall the cops."  
  
"Right!" They shouted. Robin and Viridian made their escape just in time, as not a moment later the doors gave way under the constant assault from the battering rams and the Titan's lobby filled to the brim with SWAT members and Policemen.   
  
"FREEZE!" One of them shouted, his gun raised.  
  
"What can we do for you officers?" Cyborg stated, walking forward, his arms folded and a slightly angry look on his face. The law seemed to back up a step at the sight of four of the Super Hero team of Jump city.  
  
"We are here for the robot Cyborg." A man in a trench coat and a big hat said, his gun lowered as he approached them with, like most people, caution. He raised his badge, just as a precaution.  
  
"I am afraid that we must say no detective, as she is in for questioning and is under our personal protection for the duration of her stay." Gauntlet said, after thinking 'What would Noel say?'. This was one time that Noel's constant yakking would be useful.  
  
"Sorry, but we have to, whether you like it or not." A loud-mouthed SWAT member shouted, re-aiming his gun. The first man pushed it down and whispered to him.  
  
"You don't talk to the Titans like that you fool." He turned back to the teenagers and spoke in a full voice. "I apologise for him, he is a rookie from out of town and doesn't know you yet. But he is unfortunately correct; we have to take her in."  
  
"Why are you acting like this? Don't you trust us or something? After all we have done for you? That's gratitude." Was the reply from Terra as she worked up the courage and stepped forward.  
  
"Sorry little girl, but it's the law." She soon shrunk back from the conversation, to have Beast Boy take her place.  
  
"You shouldn't need to follow the law to the letter, but look at the spirit of it and uphold that. We have all the stuff here; let us handle her and when the time is right we'll see about handing her over to you." He pointed at the trench-coat wearer with one gloved hand. "Besides, she can't escape this way."  
  
"Uh-huh. And that is why she shot through the door at us?" He asked, thumbing back at where the door was, his other hand in his pocket, his gun now holstered. There was a pause.  
  
Lets hope Robin got her out okay.

Speaking of Robin and Viridian, they were at this moment in time, dashing up the final sets of stairs to make it outside the tower onto the Helipad, which still had the volleyball net up. The pair worked quickly and wrapped it up and placed it away before they waited. Lifting up his communicator Robin called in his 'friend'.  
  
"This is Robin, Robin to Extraction, come in." He stated. There was slight static on the line before a reply.  
  
"This is Extraction, what do you need Robin?" The voice seemed to spark something inside Viridian, but she was unsure, as when she tried to access it in her memory banks the file seemed corrupted.  
  
"We're ready to commence the extraction, and I recommend you be quick about it." He said, before he put his com device away. Viridian's head turned slowly towards the incoming aircraft and scanned it, her dark orbs soon became overlapped with what looked like the glass from sunglasses minus the frames.  
  
In her mind she knew who it was, even though she zoomed in on the aircraft for a better look, but she knew who it was. As soon as it came out of the clouds she could see it and the logo on the side of the craft. 'Knowledge is Power'. It said under a robotic hand in the shape of a fist.  
  
With this knowledge in mind, she raised her rifle and aimed for one of its jet engines. However there was one person on that rooftop who didn't want her to get her usually perfect aim. With a well timed Birdarang, Robin knocked the blast astray, making it pass wide from its ideal target. Now with a new target, Viridian turned to fire at Robin, but the Teen Wonder managed to dodge the first volley of shots, but not the second, as it managed to take out the roof out under him.   
  
However, he was a tough and resilient opponent, and in mid air he threw an orb at the rifle. On contact with the barrel it burst open and formed a seal around the end, clogging up the barrel. Unfortunately she was just pulling the trigger when this happened and so, with no other place to go, the photon blast that was meant for Robin exploded in the chamber, destroying the rifle and her right arm, throwing her back right onto the 'H' mark on the Helipad.   
  
Looking up she could see the ship that was to take her back to her doom. Getting to her feet, Viridian tried to run from the ship, but unlike stopping which can be done instantly, picking up that kind of speed took time, and while she was starting to run a mechanical claw had come down and seized her in its grasp.  
  
"So you did betray me." She stated lightly as she was dragged up into the ship. Within a moment she was gone, and so was the ship.

Robin smirked as he made his way back down. The little tussle with Viridian had given him an idea, and when he reached the bottom level he started to stagger a little and made his way over to the others.   
  
"Damn dude! What just happened?" Beast Boy asked, grabbing Robin's shoulder and looking at him. He had rips in his trousers and a cut or two, caused by the flying debris from where the rifle took out the floor under him.  
  
"I was ambushed showing our guest around. I think it was the lab that she came from, the ship had a fist made of metal on it." He said, trying to straighten himself out.  
  
"Yep, that's them alright. It'll be on its way back to Gotham City by now." The detective pulled his hat on a little firmer before he signalled for everyone to leave. "Bill us for the door."   
  
----------------------------------------------------

And so the day continued on, and Raven soon returned home. The doctor said that with continued rest and the use of her curative spell, she should be back to normal within a few days, maybe a week or so. She didn't much like going to see a doctor she didn't know, but what could she do? She couldn't see Nigel on the sly as no one knew where he was, so the only thing they could do was to see a local doctor. At least the press weren't following them around: Noel had made his dislike of them VERY clear from the start.  
  
"We're home." Raven announced, walking in carrying a bag in the other hand with some shopping she and Savior picked up on the way home, just some essentials really. Savior came in soon following, the Shimmer carrying four bags. When you live with more than four people, even the basics come in a few more bags than you'd expect. Noel by this time had obviously calmed down, though he doubted severely that the argument that had happened earlier would be the end of it. More arguments were to follow.  
  
"Hey, were is the robot girl?" The white-garbed Titan asked, coming down the stairs to the living area as Raven took a bag to the kitchen to unload some of the cold stuff.  
  
"Hey man." Cyborg stood up quietly and crept over to his friend and put his finger to his lips to tell Noel to be a little quieter, as Beast Boy and Terra had fallen asleep while watching a movie. "Someone tracked Viridian here and called the police. They came to get her. While we stalled the cops Robin took her to the Helipad to be airlifted out by a friend of his to escape to another city, but on the way up he was ambushed and they took her back to the lab. There was nothing we could really do, though I did think of planning a rescue attempt, but I'm not one for strategies." He shrugged. Raven quickly came back in the room, light but quick and she made a B-line towards Cyborg and Noel. "Yo Rae."  
  
"Cyborg, Robin said that he was ambushed." She started. "I saw him a moment ago, but...I read something...I thought you both ought to know..." She paused.  
  
"Know what?" Noel asked calmly and quietly.  
  
"He and Viridian were not ambushed. He gave her back to her previous captors. He sold her out."

============================

Jedi: Robin sold out someone? Was he doing the right thing? Or was he looking out for 'the team' and himself again?  
  
Nigel: Who cares? I thought this was my tale of woe. sighs and plays Violin  
  
Jedi: Stop that, you've had plenty of chapters before hand! It's Cyborg's turn now.


	15. Viridian: All in a day's work

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide, but I DO own my own characters.

* * *

Chapter 15: All in a Day's Work

* * *

Needless to say, Cyborg wasn't the happiest of campers.

Getting together with Noel, the pair planed an escape for Viridian from her Gotham prison. Using what influence he could muster (which wasn't much when virtually all the world knew you only as "the whip using member of that teen superhero squad that's always causing trouble), Noel and Raven pulled up the building plans for the labs that created her and began to make a plan.  
  
"The hardest part of this will be to go in without Robin finding out, as you are in Batman's territory, and he knows everything. I mean EVERYTHING." Noel said, unrolling a blueprint of the 7th floor of the WayneTech building in Gotham City.  
  
"Stop it with the hero worship." Raven scolded as she placed the final item in Cyborg's back pack.  
  
"It's not hero worship, just simple advice. We'd go with you, but if half of his team left Robin might get suspicious. But if you go on your own, then he could chalk it up to a personal mission or, sorry to say, returning trauma." Noel said, indicating to a dark event in the Teen Titans' past that was best left forgotten. He placed the map on the small table in Raven's room, as no one would go into her room without permission. No one would even dare think it.  
  
"Gee. Thanks." Cyborg said darkly, experiencing a twinge as an old pain reasserted itself and reminded him that it would never be totally gone.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Anyway, the guards have a tendency to rotate, but they won't do it without eye contact with his or her predecessor, so if you get in, you have to be prepared for trouble." Raven said, pointing to the map. There were red circles with little dashes on them to show them the most likely way the guard would be facing.  
  
"Gee, you sure thought of everything, eh Rae? Have you been playing Hitman: Contracts?" Noel asked lightly, looking over the page.  
  
"We'd best keep to the matter at hand." She continued on. "The only place that is vulnerable is at the back entrance on the bottom floor. But you'll still need a distraction, which is where I come in." She pulled out a red poloneck and black denim pants, perfectly normal looking. "I'll be dressed as a civilian and will run up and scream for help. When their heads are turned, you sneak up and get inside. If they give chase to me I will go down an alleyway and warp back to the tower."  
  
"After that, you are on your own." Savior told him, pointing to a part of the map that was labelled 'point of no return'. "After this point it's either mission success or bust, as you are too far into the place to get out again without being seen. We've placed a Security Guard uniform in your bag that can be useful, just be careful, as if they get too close they will read the numbers on the pocket and find that it's a fake."  
  
"Why do I feel like some super spy?" Cyborg asked, having a closer look at the map.  
  
"Because you are doing something James Bond would do and the fact while this is supposed to be planned in a few months, this has been planned in about an evening or two..." Noel replied. "...Got to love improvisation." He added, thought it was clear from his tone that he didn't.  
  
"Gee thanks for the warm confident feeling."  
  
"The rest is written down in this book, good luck Double O Seven and a half." 

* * *

And so he started the mission he had chosen to accept. And no, nothing blew up within five seconds of him accepting it, except maybe a few tempers...  
  
"Alright I'm here." Cyborg said as he snuck around the side of the building and watched the back entrance, he saw too guards. "Alright, Rae, when you're ready."  
  
In the other direction, Raven waited, dressed as a normal person with her hair done in pigtails. The turtleneck she didn't mind, in fact she actually liked it, but it was the pigtails that really annoyed her. Savior was getting far too into this super spy thing. She began to wonder if he had something for Jinx, maybe the next time they were together she'd utilize his distraction to do a mind read and...right, task at hand.

And so the young sorceress plastered a look of fear on her usually calm face and sighed. Once more into the breach dear friends, once more.  
  
"Hey! Help! Oh god someone please help me!" She shouted down the alleyway, running like a girly-girl who had just seen their favourite pop star. When she reached the startled guards, she panted as if she was out of breath (While in actuality Raven could probably run a mile, but she had to put on a good act). Looking up, she grabbed one of the guards by the arms. "You have to help me, these men, they were chasing me!" She called. "Please, help! I need to get to my car!" She pleaded, leaning into them as if she had run out of energy. Raven is proving to be a surprisingly good actress.  
  
"Alright. Go with her." One guard said to the other. Raven cursed inwardly at the fact only one of them was following her, but as soon as she got around the corner, some luck had actually befallen her, as a group of thugs where actually trying to wreck a car, probably to get at the in car entertainment, or ICE as it was known in car modifying circles (Uh, not that I'd actually know about anything about grand theft auto, whistles), and because of the size of the group he had to call for backup anyway, which left the door unprotected for a brief moment.  
  
All the man-machine needed.  
  
Being surprisingly stealthy for someone his size, Cyborg managed to sneak in relatively unnoticed and straight up the stairs to the men's bathroom. Well, things seem to be going his way for once. Once he hit that room, he was past the point of no return. Now it was sink or swim, and failure wasn't an option.

But there was one thing he hadn't thought of. As he opened his bag with the uniform in it, he noticed something a little unusual.  
  
A hamster. Or rather a GREEN hamster.

"Yo dude." It whispered, before it slipped out and transformed into Beast Boy, all ready to be stealthy in what looked like a Solid Snake outfit. Shame it had so many metallic clips and buckles on it that it kind of jingled when he walked.  
  
"Say what?!" Cyborg shouted, before he realised that loud outbursts of noise were most likely detrimental for what he was trying to accomplish. "What are you doing here?" He demanded, more in a whisper than before.  
  
"Simple, I've come to help. Can't you tell with my super spy kit?" He showed him a lot of useless gadgets. Cyborg wasn't impressed.  
  
"BB, this is a serious thing going on." He stated, rubbing his face into his palm. This was the LAST thing he needed.  
  
"I am serious. Look, I heard what happened and I want to get her back, or at least let her go free." Gar turned towards his friend, as he pulled out of the bag two security guard uniforms, both matching the light browns and cream colours the others wore. "If your best friend can't support you, who can?" He smirked at Cyborg, who smiled back.  
  
"Let's show them what super spies we are!"  
  
Soon enough, the pair walked out of the bathroom, Beast Boy wearing a face-fitting mask to hide his green skin. Why did he buy it? Hey, you can't be a super hero without an alternative identity, and being green doesn't leave many opportunities where your identity can't be found out. Unfortunately, he was scammed and the mask doesn't look very convincing, but in the dark it couldn't be a problem. And so the pair, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, marched down the hallways and went up the elevator to the seventh floor.  
  
They said it was easy.  
  
Once they reached the seventh floor however, things started to get a little more difficult. The plans that Savior had managed to get were, to say the least, a little dated. What it showed on the plans was a large room in the centre of the structure with multiple ways into it, and that large room was the laboratory itself, with a guard or two, however... As it is the way with all well laid plans, it kind of went pear shaped.  
  
"Dude, there is only one way in..." Beast Boy stated, taking off his mask momentarily to wipe the sweat from his brow. That mask was so hot it was unreal.  
  
"Plus there are a lot more guards..." Cyborg muttered, as he snuck up to a corner and looked around briefly to see a guard standing there, ever watchful. "Okay BB, I'll knock on the wall and distract him, then you knock him out and take his keys."

Beast Boy nodded and gave Cyborg his security guard's hat, then jumped up onto the wall and transformed into a spider. Luckily the guard wasn't arachnophobic, as they supposedly had wonderful peripheral vision, according to comedian Phil Jupitus. With relative ease, he got to the other side of the door and waited. Cyborg started to knock on the wall.  
  
No response.  
  
Again.  
  
No response.  
  
Again, but a little harder. .  
  
Again, the same response, as in none. What our poor cybernetic friend had neglected to notice was that our guard here was wearing frameless headphones and listening to his walkman as the Titan relentlessly attacked the wall to try and gain his attention. Unfortunately for the guard, the wall wasn't as solid as it seemed, and when Cyborg banged it with quite a bit of strength, it started to crack. This crack, which Cyborg traced with his eyes, went up the wall, along the ceiling and connected with a previous fault in said roof. This caused a chunk of the wall to come down on the guard with the walkman.  
  
"Um... You still want me to take his keys?" Beast Boy asked as they moved on through the door, to the next guard.  
  
A few steps down the corridor was another guard. This one had actually seen Victor, so Gar thought of something quickly and rummaged around in the bag. He pulled out a soft drink can, probably cola of some kind, and shook it violently (out of sight of the guard of course).  
  
"Hey man, how goes it?" Victor asked as he made his way down the corridor, taking the can from his green friend.  
  
"You new here?" The guard asked, a little incredulous at the fact someone so young was working as a security guard. He didn't trust the ocular implants Cyborg had either.  
  
"Yeah, well I have to work off this new eye somehow." He joked, and passed the can to the guard. I suppose it was rather fortunate that Viridian was taken to Gotham City, as if it had been a lab in Jump City, they would have recognized him straight away. "Seein' as we aren't allowed beer, how about a little cola to keep ya going?"

The guard was hesitant at first, but the night had been incredibly dry. In Jump City the general atmosphere was wet as hell, but here the rain didn't seem to want to come that evening.  
  
"Yeah, sure. Why not?" He smiled and took the can.

He wasn't smiling for very long however because as soon as he opened it, it sprayed all over his face, and most painful of all, right into his open eyes. Roaring in pain, he stepped back a little and dropped the can. Cyborg went to "help", while Beast Boy snaked his keys.  
  
"Why don't they just have one key for every door?" He complained, shifting through the real keys and the key cards to find the right one.  
  
"They obviously had another break in and put in more doors and guards to stop it from happening again." He replied, having now knocked out the guard. Beast Boy got the door open in the end. The pair was soon going to reach their goal. 

* * *

Inside the lab, Viridian hung like a cow carcass in a butcher shop, awaiting her fate. She knew what her fate was, because as inhuman as she appeared she still had a very human trait. A thinking mind. She was very aware of what was happening around her.  
  
And the fact that she was hanging from one wrist while the other hung lifelessly is more uncomfortable than previously imagined. Despite the lack of taste buds or emotions, she may have had a distasteful feeling in her mouth right about now.  
  
"So THIS is the runaway project." A short, balding man said as he approached her. She knew who he was. Mr Phelps. He snarled at he as he pulled a cigarette from his overly damp lips, a string of saliva dangling from the end.  
  
"Yes sir, we were able to find her due to the efforts of the Titan's leader, Robin." A tall but surprisingly ratty looking man said as he stood behind who appeared to be his boss. He had messy red hair and was quite dishevelled in appearance.  
  
"So the Titans finally came to their senses. Well that is a good thing. What is its name again?" He came closer to Viridian, a pair of hollow, sunken eyes staring closer at the machine. If she felt things, she may have felt a little uncomfortable, someone invading her personal space like this.  
  
"Viridian, sir."  
  
"Well I'm not expected to know every little project's pet name now am I?" He asked, but it was more like an angry statement, the way bosses manage. "When we start mass producing you, my dear mechanical femme, we will have an army greater than most of the military."  
  
"How do we going to get them to buy these things?" The scientist asked, going around his boss a little. As little more then a lowly worker bee, he wasn't really privy to all the information, but seeing as this particular scientist had made sure that Viridian's creator, her 'father', if you would, wouldn't interfere in any plans, he was allowed some knowledge.  
  
"Simple, we use this proto-type to start a small skirmish." He smirked, at what he assumed was genius. In actuality, it was more like genocide. "Then, the military unable to touch such a fast lil' bitch, will ask us to make these jumped up microwaves to fight it. Once they see it in action, we'll sell them as many as they want. Hell, we practically runs the damn world anyway, why not give it a nudge in the right direction?" He placed the cigarette back in his mouth before relighting it, as the ambers had gone out in the time he was talking and not smoking.  
  
"Indeed that is a... patriotic plan, however what would happen if something goes wrong?"  
  
"We'll deny the whole damn thing. After all, if they defeat it we can say it went haywire." The boss turned around and looked at the parts on the table. "Then we pay off whoever sues and start over. So boost everything to max, this time there will be no chance of her running away like a lost little girl!" He turned and shouted, saliva and ash flying from his mouth, landing on the scientist's light-coloured shirt.  
  
"Yes sir. We've doubled the guards and placed booby traps and sensors all around the area. If she tries to get out, we'll know."  
  
"It's not her getting out that worries me." He said lightly, before leaving out via the back door. This door was a huge reinforced steel lift that led to one place and one place only. The manager's office.  
  
"Well, it is a matter of perspective." The scientist said as he followed. "She will be ready within a few days, maybe less."  
  
"Good, line up potential buyers as well." And with that, the doors shut.  
  
Only to have the other door open quickly at the other end of the room. Cyborg wandered in, dragging a guard via tucking his head carefully under his arm, using his other arm to hold his eyelids open. All the retinal scanner needs is an eye, doesn't mean the person has to be conscious.  
  
"Yo! She's here!" Beast Boy shouted, ripping his mask off one last time. "Finally! Man I COULDN'T BREATHE!" He shouted, throwing the mask down and stomping on it. "Die! Die!"  
  
"Oh joy. I don't know what is worse, the fact my betrayers have come to save me or the fact that it's him..." Viridian said to herself. Is being mass produced really that bad in comparison to spending several weeks in the company of the green Titan who had obviously had more than one cup of coffee when he got up in the morning.

Coffee, milk, 29 sugars, that is  
  
"Well, isn't that gratitude." Beast Boy said as he walked past the equipment, plans and more spare parts. Cyborg dropped the 'sleeping' guard and made his way over to Viridian.  
  
"Just so you know, it wasn't us who betrayed you." Cyborg said as he reached up and ripped off the manacles around her wrist.  
  
"It was your leader." She replied, finally touching the floor. A crude mock up of its original had replaced the arm that had been previously destroyed. Unlike the other arm, which had a covering, the scientists had yet to replace her clothing and so the arm had no such covering over it. Cyborg stood there for a moment, not answering the statement that had ushered from her lips. If it had been Robin, if Raven had been right about her feelings, then how could he trust him anymore? How could a person even contemplate trusting someone who betrayed an innocent with the lives and souls of their friends?  
  
How could they trust him as the leader of the Titans?  
  
His thoughts where interrupted as Beast Boy caught their attention.  
  
"Look at this thing!" He shouted, jumping up and on top of what looked like a see through gun cabinet. Inside was her rifle, and not only that, There was also what looked like a covering for an arm, and mounted on that was some nasty looking blades, long thin ones that seemed to jut out like claws, or more precisely insectile claws. There were also lots of other paraphernalia, including the remains of what looked like a club.  
  
"Hey! That was the White Hole's club! How'd the HELL did they get this?!" Cyborg demanded as Viridian followed him over, her face never anything but a picture of perfect serenity.  
  
"Ebay." She replied lightly.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"These are weapons they have created using the ideas behind other ideas and technologies." She stated, leaning forward to take a closer look. "The claw is designed for a more powerful version of me."  
  
"Say what?!" Cyborg said, surprise coming across his face, while Beast Boy fell off the top of the cupboard. Though when you think about it, Viridian isn't that strong of an android. On the contrary, she is probably quite weak as androids go because she was designed for accuracy, and you don't need to be powerful if you have the accuracy to get a person where they count. She was designed as more of an assassin, rather than a warrior.  
  
But still, the mind boggles.  
  
"I overheard their plans for me. If you have truly come to rescue me, then please help me download all the files concerning my design." She turned from them and ambled gently over to a consol. "I want to remain the only Viridian." With nothing more than a shrug they marched over to the consol. What is the point of being free if they can make more of you? What is the point of being free if everyone fears your face? That wasn't freedom, that was hell, and this was one 'tool' that was fighting back!  
  
Shame the whole thing was caught on camera really. More a shame as now guards, who had not noticed Cyborg's previous break in, were awoken by the sound of the motion alarms under the floor Viridian had been hanging over, meaning when she dropped to the floor, she set them off. This in turn lead them to press the silent alarm which meant a personalized SWAT team for WayneTech arrived on the scene, armed to the back teeth with all sorts of weaponry to disable anything from the living, to the mechanical and right the way through to the down right deceased (and those things showed up more often then one would think). And no, I'm not going to make jokes about them being in the scouts and being prepared because they aren't weak, most of the scouts I know could kick serious arse. One even went into the Royal Marines.  
  
Cool huh?

Yes I am British, how did you know?  
  
Anyway, back up in the lab they had managed to download what little information they could. In all fairness, there was enough information here to slow down the super computers at IBM and Microsoft, so seeing as they were finding specific information regarding one android and downloading it into Cyborg and Viridian, I think they got quite a lot, well at least enough.  
  
"Freeze!" One of the guards shouted as they poured into the room. By this time, the Titans had discarded their masquerade and had returned to their original, more famous, attire. This, unfortunately, was a tactical mistake as now they had to fight their way out of the situation, rather than think their way out of it.  
  
Actually...  
  
"Well it's about time!" Cyborg stated, folding his arms in an impatient manner. Cyborg never could really look angry on a whim, so he went for the next best thing, slightly irked and impatient.  
  
"Beg your pardon?" One of the guards asked, his gun lowering a little as he looked around to see if anyone else got the idea. The other guards, who had arrived on the scene before the personalised SWAT team had turned up, had that same, slightly confused expression.  
  
"We have been here hours!" He continued. Beast Boy and Viridian were both a little confused, but they had every confidence in their friend. Alright, perhaps not every confidence but enough. "We were wondering when you would show and quite frankly your performance was appalling."  
  
"Uh-yeah!" Beast Boy added, finally twigging the idea. Perhaps these overnight security guards could be fooled, and so they could be let go before any backup arrived.  
  
"If we were real criminals, we could have gotten in and out within a matter of moments." Viridian finally got in on the act, walking forward.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be locked up?" One of the guards asked, obviously recognising her from before. The calm she had on her face never left her, as she just raised a brow and nodded.  
  
"Again, a clever gambit by your employer. You should have been more aware of your surroundings, seeing as you had someone locked up. This usually means there is someone on the outside that is looking for such a person." She started to walk past to the gun cupboard. "Seeing as this test is now over, can I have my weapons back? I relinquished them in good faith for this experiment to give you a fair, if not biased chance." She was indeed an impressive specimen. No human would have had the confidence and conviction she had to talk her way out of a situation.  
  
The laughable thing was it actually worked.

"Oh my mistake Ma'am. I knew there had to be a good reason." The first guard said as he nodded to his friends. One of them pulled out a key and unlocked the weapon's storage. He promptly stepped aside as she went for her oversized riffle. Her temporary new arm was a little weaker, and strained under the weight of such a weapon, but luckily with the plans she managed to download, she could just rebuild herself.  
  
"Thank-you sergeant, we will note your co-operation in our report." She stated. They all tried to move to the door. Fate seemed to spit in their face once again as the back door, the one leading to the manager's office, had swiftly opened to reveal a rather angry looking man, wielding a...gold revolver.  
  
"A gold revolver? How cliché can you get?" Gar asked, shrugging in a way only he could pull off. It was true, a gold weapon was just finished off the whole spy spin off this chapter had been. 

I was raised on James Bond and other spy things... sue me.

"Maybe that's the idea?" His partner in crime stated, gearing up the Sonic Cannon that he was so very, very proud of. In his other hand he pulled out a dossier that Noel had put together about employees and scientists, and this man was a guy called Mr Phelps, a managing director of Wayne Tech. He was the kind of man who would get things done, ignoring the cost to other people. In a way he was part of this new breed of managers, who, despite having little knowledge of him, seemed to be a watered down version of Maxwell Collins, Noel's oh so esteemed father. But you must understand that he is a very cold-hearted individual, and these people are usually cowards, hiding from the atrocities that they commit.  
  
Much like this man. He was going to start a war. Not just a little battle, like the ones the Teen Titans USUALLY engage in, but a whole war to get something into production. He wasn't going to actually take part in the brutality of it all, he was just going to step back and let his 'Money making toys' do all the dirty work, he didn't care for the soldiers that would die at the hands of a reprogrammed Viridian. They were just statistics.  
  
Numbers.  
  
"Well. I suppose not all the Titans have their minds working in the same direction after all." He stated, shrugging lightly.  
  
"Can it! We're takin' Viridian back and there is nothing you can do about it!" Cyborg shouted, getting ready to dive left or right depending on where the shots where fired. The manager laughed.  
  
"You kids are supposed to be the MTV generation. Doesn't every villain you see on the TV ALWAYS has a way to 'do something about it'." He laughed a little, before raising his gun and firing at Viridian, one shot, right between the eyes. Like most managers and directors of large firms, he needed something to fill his time with other than work. While most take up golf or fishing, Mr Phelps took up accuracy sports, rifle shooting, archery and target practice. His shot was more accurate than most people in the military and his plan was that if they can't stop the Titans, then he will stop Viridian and rebuild her for his plan.  
  
Ironically, Viridian was suposedly his creation, but he didn't have a clue about her reaction time, because not only did she catch the bullet, but she caught it with that still uniform look on her face, the look that could freeze an ocean, it was so cold. There was no emotion, none. It was like looking into a blank canvas. It just went to prove that not only did he take the credit for someone else's work, but he didn't even bother to read the fine print. Not as if he could really understand it though, he was the kind of person to wait for a man to actually make a wonderful discovery and when they went out to lunch he would steal it, polish it and present it as his own.  
  
"You really have no idea, do you." The android stated as she dropped the bullet to the ground and crushed it underfoot; leaving what looked like a glittering powder. Fear now filled the face of Phelps as he panicked and ran for his life, back over to his iron clad elevator, trying not to look back at the menace that slowly walked towards him.  
  
"Don't just STAND THERE! FIRE! FIRE!" He shouted to his sorely confused security officers. Beast Boy turned to them and changed into a large reptile, better known as the Komodo Dragon, the largest lizard on the planet (that was still around at any rate. And wasn't some kind of mutation or alien. Or...you get the idea) and spun on the spot, catching the nearest guard in the legs with his whip like tail, ripping the fabric but not the skin. The attack was meant to sting like hell and make him back off rather than to do him an actual injury. In this form it was unexpectedly easy, as a normal Komodo Dragon can whip his way through a Gortex boot, some of the toughest boots of the market. He hopped out of the action in a most literal way, but the others just drew their weapons to try and tackle him. For the first time that day, luck seemed to be with the Titans as the injured man hopped into his fellow guards, making all shots go astray.  
  
So hard to find good henchmen these days.  
  
"Come on Viridian! We gotta get out of here!" Cyborg hollered to the android, who turned towards him and paused, before looking back at Phelps. He had, by this time, gotten into his left. She dashed forward at incredible speed, but it wasn't enough as the doors closed right in front of her. Cursing under her simulated breath, she pressed a button on her wrist before she turned back to the guards  
  
"This room is going to explode in less than 10 minutes. You security guards better run if you would like to get a pension." She told them, still in that relentlessly calm and monotone voice. If someone said they were going to the shops it would sound worse than what she just said. It was almost annoying, but strangely comforting at what looked like confidence on her part. .  
  
"SAY WHAT?!" The Titans yelled, before she grabbed a hold of them and yanked them towards a window.  
  
"I placed explosives on the consoles to make sure I am not copied for their plans." 

The boys ripped themselves from her surprisingly strong grip and stared at her incredulously.  
  
"Wait, you still haven't told us what their plans are! And mind the do!" The green hero shouted as he re-did his hair.  
  
"Fine." She paused. "Wayne Tech's profits have been plummeting steadily for the past few years, but peeked at the prospect of another war. But Phelps knew that people don't want to fight any more, and so he stole my late Father's work and I before I was refined."  
  
"Which he got someone else to do." Cyborg stated, thinking it over with his left hand firmly on his chin and his other free hand resting on his left forearm.  
  
"Yes, a Mister Fowler. He is a tall, scraggly looking gentleman who is quite brilliant, I assure you. However, he is easily misled, and weak when it comes to pressure from higher up."

Figured. The Titans was fed up with dealing with misinformed individuals. They still hadn't found Joe Ashton, AKA Myth. It was quite sad to see good-hearted people go bad because a manipulative third party gets involved to twist their views with words and blackmail.  
  
"So what happened to your father?" the changeling asked, his voice going a little softer.  
  
"We met with an 'unfortunate accident', or in plain English, he was murdered." Viridian replied, leaving a sombre face on the young man. "We have three minutes, twenty two seconds left."  
  
"What is their plan?" Cyborg quickly cut in, not wanting to go fly-by when the explosives went off.  
  
"To mass-produce me, then to sell my 'children' off to the government for large sums of money. Then when things get too dull, I will be sent into battle to cause a panic, then the small army which was bought will come after their 'mother' and kill me, all in the name of profit." She paused. "It is what you humans would call disconcerting to think that I am a tool and more tools based on me will be around." She paused again and looked down at her hands. Her delicate fingers on one side and her crude digits on the other, quite the contrast really. '_My father wanted me to be a pianist, an artist, a doctor or a seamstress. Something, anything that used its hands in the most delicate of work, but never a weapon.' _She thought to herself as she her hands balled into fists. _'I used to have emotions and memories, but as soon as Phelps stole me, it was all taken away.'_  
  
She was brought out of her thoughts for a moment or two as her wrist bleeped. Looking down she saw a panel slide back and a floor plan revealed itself with a blip every so often.  
  
"What is it?" Her rescuers asked, looking at her in a mild curiosity.  
  
"I seem to have located a missing part." She wandered over to a painting on the wall, paused then carried on going.  
  
"If a safe is behind the painting, I'm going to shout Cliché and I don't care how many people hear me." Beast Boy told Cyborg as they followed her over. He glanced back quickly to where the guards were, or had been. They may have been blunderers, but they were not stupid, as they too have fled the scene of the crime, not wanting to go up with the building.

Viridian came to a seam in the panels on the wall. Reaching up, she ran her middle finger down it, looking for something, before the panel popped open and slid out. Coincidently, it was the panel next to the painting.  
  
"Well, it's discreet, which is a good thing." Cyborg consoled his friend before looking over. Well, so far so good, as she examined what had emerged. It looked like a solid metal box jutting out of the wall with a small keypad on it. Her hand reached up and keyed in a pass code, her fingers working much faster than most humans could follow, trying to crack the code. Beast Boy's brain, perhaps still bearing a trace of Mad Mod's warping process, soon zoned out trying to keep up with the android's five magic fingers as they danced their way through the proverbial second act of an orchestral performance or some other random metaphor like that. Cyborg resorted to prodding him with a piece of random piping to keep him from passing out completely until the tapping stopped and a click occurred. The metal covering slid back into the wall revealing two shelves. The top one had what looked like the weekly budget, or at least the 'off the record bonus pay' the department was stealing from the company. On the bottom row it had what looked like microchips, each with a label. Flicking through them as casually as a person would do to find a CD in a store rack, Viridian searched for the ones she wanted. After a moment or two she came across them; the back up plans for the Viridian model android and two Memory sticks, one labelled 'Viridian's Mind' and the other 'Viridian's Soul', or in other words Memory and Emotions.  
  
Her eyes almost went wide as she took the two cartridges and held them in her hand for a moment or two.  
  
"Viridian, bomb, time to go!" Cyborg shouted. She nodded as he grabbed the still zoomed Beast Boy and they dashed for a window. They didn't notice, however, that the safe had already retracted and a few extra layers of armour plating had subtly snapped down around it  
  
Just as they came to the window and their escape plan, the emergency shutters went down.  
  
"Oh shit." 

* * *

Upstairs, about 4 stories up and two chapters across (Joking, joking) smirked Mr Phelps, his yellow crooked teeth clenched hard together as he drooled over the prospect of killing two meddlesome kids and a terrorist who planted explosives in his lab. This would be perfect, because while they might be taking the plans, they would be destroying all the evidence, including themselves. He was just an innocent victim of circumstance, a person who was able to do the heroic thing and trap the terrorists in his lab, not realizing there was a bomb there. The papers will read 'Manager of WayneTech: Hero of the day'. And afterwards, he'd get a team of his best scientists to pluck the carcass of the android dry, along side the other two cadavers to see what they could get out of them for 'defence purposes' and they would build a better android, a far stronger one, and be able to sell it to the government, which would ironically be because of this 'robotic fanatic', because if managed to break in and plant a bomb without security knowing, do you really want YOUR security at risk?  
  
Of course he'd have to pay off the guards, but that's fine, as the safe and the money was still intact and they would settle for much less than what other bosses would pay them to shut up.  
  
"This is too good to be true!" He gloated out loud at the monitor, getting blobs of spit on the screen. "Serves you right for trying to mess with the greatest boss the world will ever see!"  
  
"I highly doubt that." A voice came from behind him; it was a deep yet calm voice. Phelps turned around with his gun raised and pointing at his foe, anger in his eyes.

The only thing he got back was a pair of white slits on a black cowl, looking straight back at him, and not looking too impressed. The man moved out of the shadows and batted the gun away, making it fall to the floor.  
  
"B...B..." Phelps stuttered, not sure what to do.  
  
"You are going to release the lock on the windows aren't you?" The taller man asked as he continued to walk forwards, a dark cape moulding itself around his muscular shoulders and draping to the floor, the jagged edge brushing the soft carpet ever so often.  
  
"H...Hey you don't scare me!" He pressed a button and four large men in what looked like swat vests piled into the room. The black caped man just narrowed his eyes. Each man charged at him and as quickly as they had entered the room, they were on the floor in a crumpled heap, groaning at the pain in their arms and legs, having now been removed from their sockets. "Well okay maybe you do b-but that's natural." Phelps backed up towards his console on his desk. He stopped when he felt the warm wood against his back. "Can't w-we make a deal? No?"

"RELEASE. THE LOCKS." 

* * *

"YAHOOO!" This was the one thing, amongst all others, that Cyborg decided to shout as he, while carrying the comatose Beast Boy and in the company of the ever stoic Viridian, jumped through a window, with flames following him. Although the explosion wasn't exactly an eruption of fire, it was still strong enough to dislodge any broken glass and to send a few odds and ends flying. Being in mid air, they were one of the things that went flying.  
  
Cyborg managed to right himself in the air and landed on the ground with a large, metallic thud. Viridian also managed to right herself, but her small feet no longer possessed any sole to them from all her high speed running, and so she couldn't land straight and fell over. Her crude hand popped open and out flew her one of the sticks. Her emotions.

You could almost feel her eyes widening as it bounced on the concrete once, twice, over a gutter and then in the middle of the street. Cyborg breathed a sigh of relief as she went to grab it.

A car zoomed past and their eyes went wide again.  
  
It missed it; it was in the middle of the road and the car passed harmlessly over it. She reached out again.  
  
Motorbike. This one didn't miss.  
  
The information flew into thousands of small shards, each part of the microchip flying into the air, its gold and silver components shining out against the streetlights. Viridian paused and stood up again. She didn't turn for a moment or two, she just waited.  
  
"I suppose this is what you would call a cruel twist of fate?" She turned towards Cyborg.  
  
"It is. So what are you going to do now?"

She pondered for a moment or two, then looked north, up the street in the same direction as the motorbike went.  
  
"I have a cousin of sorts. Her creator and mine were good friends, so much so they swore an oath supposedly. I suppose I could go there." She shook her head lightly, her wire hair fluttering in the light evening breeze. "It's almost as if the biker was directing me."  
  
"Is there anything I can do for you?" He raised his hand up, as if to emphasise his point.  
  
"You have done more than enough... but..." She removed the rifle from her back and looked at it one last time before handing it into his open palm. "I am not a weapon. I'm a person. Viridian Bliss Thompson. That sounds like a nice name. "She started to walk forwards.  
  
"How will we find you?" He shouted after her.  
  
"I'll let you know." She said, and waved goodbye. Looking down at the one chip left in her hand, she started to run. "At least I have my Memory."

Cyborg waved back and watched her run. He sighed one last time, before building up a belch large enough to snap his green friend out of his hypnotic trance. Not exactly the most dignified way to end the day, but it worked. Then again it wasn't quite done as a high-tech black car pulled up next to them, the roof canopy lifting back.  
  
"Get in." 

* * *

"I CAN NOT believe it! I just simply do not understand it!"

When the two had arrived back at the tower however, it wasn't exactly the heroes welcome they wanted. After all, they just stopped a war from happening, but Robin, once again, wasn't happy. After all, his entire team had just conspired together and undid what he had just done. And it wasn't just Cyborg either, but the whole team. Raven and Noel helped plan it, Cyborg and Beast Boy did the deed and Terra told Beast Boy about the couple's plans. All of his team were in front of him in a line, and he walked up and down it like a general addressing his troops.  
  
"Well it did happen." Terra said, looking off to one side.

"Behind my back!" Robin shouted at her. Actually, it was more like a full on roar. Beast Boy himself would have trouble doing such a yell in a lion form. "I trusted you! All of you!"  
  
"Yeah well, what about the trust you neglected to show us?" Cyborg asked, looking straight down into the eyes of Robin.  
  
"What?" Robin paused.  
  
"How about the time where you dressed up as Red X?" Raven asked, keeping her usual cool, though she could feel her anger. "You didn't trust us enough to tell us that you had committed those crimes in order to get to Slade."  
  
"I had to, otherwise you would have not fought at 100%." He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Look." He started to talk again in a softer, lighter tone. Removing his mask he started again. "I have only ever wanted what is best for the team, you know that. These past few weeks were... hectic." He walked back down the line. "Things have been happening as of late that I don't expect anyone to understand."  
  
"We know Fearless."  
  
"But it still gives you NO RIGHT to do what you did! We gave the android back to Wayne Enterprises! What the hell did you think you where doing breaking in there?!"  
  
"We had to get her out! You read the report!" Cyborg shouted at his leader.  
  
"Yes but Gotham isn't our jurisdiction! That is Batman's territory and remember he has been in the super hero business a lot longer than we have!" He shouted, stepping up on tiptoes to look a little closer into the Cyborg's eye. "This conversation is over, I'm right, you're wrong. You're lucky I'm nice enough to keep you on my team." He lowered himself, put on his mask and strolled confidently out of the room.  
  
"HIS team?!" Gauntlet shouted. He hadn't really been a part of it, but he was being shouted at for all the times he has done something like this and not told them so it kind of evened out. Secretly he wanted to be a part of it just so he could call himself Q or something.  
  
"His way of thinking is starting to hurt my head." Raven complained, rubbing her temples lightly to try and get rid of the headache that had been caused by their leader.  
  
"You know why this is don't you? He's still pissed at us for accepting Nigel." Gauntlet sighed and led down upon their unique sofa.  
  
"Don't say it too loudly or he'll come in and shove his staff down your throat." Terra commented, stretching lightly. She still hadn't seen what this Nigel looked like, but then again Robin has wiped him from all the computers except the one in the lab.  
  
"Well now that he's gone we have to take all the force of Robin's rage." Beast Boy said, flopping backwards over the back of the chair with the remote in hand.  
  
Noel, who had calmly stood there and listened to their leader's mad ranting for the good part of five minutes, decided he was going to go check the mail. Sifting through to see if there was anything for Raven or himself. Junk, junk, you have won a thousand dollars; to claim send six hundred dollars, junk, junk, AOL CD (new drinks coaster), junk and a white letter. He paused on the white letter and threw the AOL disk at Gauntlet, just for laughs. Rob caught it and placed his cola on top of it. 

He walked back to the group, the white letter in hand and opened it. It was on the marked stationary of the local hospital. Inside, on hospital-watermarked paper, was a letter and a lot of different pieces of paper.  
  
"Is that the test results you requested?" Raven asked. He just nodded and carried on reading.

"What test results?" Beast Boy asked.

"Something I suspected but I hope isn't true..." Noel said as he kept reading. Soon he came across a part of it that didn't so much surprise him, but made him feel a little low inside. It was grim news, but he still had to tell them.  
  
Later that evening Robin was in his room, examining some evidence of a local crime that had been committed. It seemed to be the handy work of a small group of thugs whose leader seemed to be a normal man with a custom gun, and Robin was examining one of the rounds that were left. The door slid open slowly and Noel stood there, looking in at him as he calmly worked.  
  
"Tim, we need to talk." Noel said lightly, making his way into the dim lit room. Avoiding all the obstacles here was almost like an initiation test. If you could get from one side to the other you win the prize of Robin's attention.  
  
"Start talking." He said, not looking up from the cartridge he had found.  
  
"I'd like to talk to you about the way you've been acting as of late." Noel made his way into the depths of Robin's "office".  
  
"Ahuh."  
  
"I think that you have been a little... harsh on some of the Titans as of late." He finally managed to reach the young leader and leaned on the desk. Robin still didn't look up. "What I'm trying to say is that you have been, admittedly, under a great deal of stress. That's understandable. However, is taking it out on the others a good way to handle such anxiety?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Look...maybe in some way or another you feel that you hurt, and you want the others to know that you are hurting inside, yet you wish to keep your integrity and so, rather than blubbering you have started to shout, which at some degree is acceptable but it still is a little agitating when you keep taking it out on us." Noel continued.  
  
Silence.  
  
"What I am trying to say is that you are shouting at us for doing something that you might have done once. After all we have all done things that weren't by the book. Hell, that's how Gauntlet got here. But you must understand that shouting at these people like this may cause more damage in the long run, so please try and calm down." "Ahuh."  
  
"You aren't even listening to me, are you? You are ignoring every word I say!"  
  
"That is about the size of it."  
  
"Damn it Tim, we all know that you are hurting! For you AND Starfire! But that's no damn reason to take it out on us!" Noel yelled at his leader, who turned and glared at the leader of the newer Titans.  
  
"And what happens if I don't shout? You go off and do more stupid things and then more people get hurt, and then they feel pain!"  
  
".................Is that it?" Noel said darkly. "You're ignoring me not because you hurt. Instead, you're ignoring me because I'm a newer member of the team." The white Titan said, lifting his finger and pointing at his leader. "You're better then this Tim. You should be reaching out to us, and instead, you're looking for people to blame!"  
  
"Well wouldn't you? If you hadn't noticed, a monster came through here a couple of months back and started to rip this place apart, and he eventually caused the death of an innocent!"  
  
"Nigel isn't the monster you-"

Robin shook his head at Noel's unfinished sentence.  
  
"It was SO much simpler when it was just the five of us. No one got too badly hurt, but no. More and more people came to try and join our little group, and now that has cost us dearly. Now I am a Titan down and seriously considering getting rid of the newer Titans in case they too make a stupid mistake." Robin barked at him. "Would you like that?"

Noel's fists balled and his arms tensed.  
  
"You dare blame Nigel for your own faults. You know, some things aren't always what they seem..."  
  
"Bring his name up one more time and I'll hand you your ass!" Robin yelled as he pointed at him. "From this moment Noel, you have lost all seniority on this team..." Robin started, but this time it was Noel's turn to ignore him, as he continued on his sentence.  
  
"Why do you think your son died?" He continued, looking dead into the eyes of his leader.  
  
"Noel, you have five seconds to get out of here with you still looking pretty." Robin threatened, getting in Noel's face.  
  
"It wasn't Nigel's fault you know."

Robin snapped, shoving Noel away in a set up to his real offensive move, as he jumped up to try and land a spin kick at Noel's jaw. However, unlike their infamous first training session Noel decided to play his trump card, the Shimmer.

Shimmer strands lanced out, wrapping around Tim and slamming him against the wall, pulling off his utility belt even as more strands pulled Noel forward so he could shove the papers he was holding in Tim's face.

"The genetic codes didn't match."

"LET ME GO! I ORDER YOU-!!!!!!!!!" Tim roared at Noel, before Shimmer strands grabbed his heads and forced it to look at the paper.

"THE. GENETIC CODES. DIDN'T. MATCH." Noel stated again, his tone harsh. Tim looked at all the nonsense printed on the front page, which was actually the last page: Noel had flipped it forward.

And it had a discovery that shook Tim to his very core.

"What...?"

"I asked the doctors to run some extra tests, since you were so certain that the death of your son's fault lay with Nigel and Nigel alone. But you're wrong Tim. Nigel didn't murder your son. YOU did. BECAUSE YOU HAD SEX WITH AN ALIEN WITHOUT KNOWING IF YOUR SPECIES COULD PROPERLY INTERBREED! They couldn't! Starfire's body REJECTED the baby!! HER DNA COULDN'T PROPERLY MATCH UP WITH YOURS! It would have died even WITHOUT Nigel EVER EXISTING!"

"No! That monster attacked her! If he hadn't we could have caught it, stopped..."

"Tim, your baby was destined to die as soon as it was created. It was not meant to exist. The fact that it made it so far was a miracle. But it was going to die Tim. Nigel just possibly hastened the process. More fault lies with the White Hole that forced that move, or Starfire for not leaving the island, or you for not changing any particular move you made in that battle, then it does with Nigel. THIS WAS INEVITABLE. YOU CANNOT HAVE CHILDREN WITH KORY."  
  
"But!"  
  
"EVER."

"No...no...you're lying! Since you...!" Tim screamed, before a Shimmer strand slapped him across the face. At this point, Noel let him go, throwing the papers in front of him.

"It's worse then I thought. I knew that losing your baby was going to hurt you Tim, but I hoped that you could work through it, that you understood the importance of working through it. But you haven't. It's blinding you to reason and rhyme, so to speak. All you can do is rage, blame, and hurt. And you're allowed to Tim. But not while you're leading a group of superheroes. Tim, you have to step down."

"NO! I WON'T!"

"Tim, please, I know of your great capacity for rational thinking. I know that such things are easily swept away by emotion. Please, for your own sake, try and find it again and see that this is true!"

"SHUT UP! YOU'RE JUST LIKE NIGEL! A FOOL, A..."

"Freak? Monster? Dear god Tim, listen to yourself. We're all human...but you've become too human."

"Better human then what Nigel was!"

"And Starfire as well?"

Robin was silent.

"I'm sorry Tim. I hoped it wouldn't come to this. But after all I've seen, I have no choice. We're stripping you of command."

"WHAT! YOU CAN'T! I'M THE LEADER! ME!"

"Yes, and you should know that the Titans have an emergency veto ability. When I got this data, I brought it before them. I didn't want to, but I knew it had gone this far. And so had they. They all voted for it. You need to leave Tim. You need to work this out. If you don't, it's not our mistakes that are going to get someone else killed. It will be YOU. And I won't allow that. When you're better, you'll be welcomed back. Until then, get out."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we'll MAKE you leave." Noel said quietly.

"TRAITORS! I'M YOUR LEADER! I...I..." Robin faltered as the full realization was kicking in: the Titans had kicked him off.

"Go home Tim. Or go to Batman. Or go form another team. Do what you wish. I think you'll heal Tim. But the only one who knows for certain is you. Don't let us down, or Starfire, or the world. You're better then that. Don't let your flaws drag you down to the level of the scum we fight. There are two kinds of men in this world Tim. The righteous who think they are sinners, and the sinners who think they are righteous. You need to decide which. Now get out."

And with that Noel left Tim, crumbled to the floor, alone in the darkness of his own making.

The door shut behind the white Titan as he walked down the corridor.  
  
"What now?" the soft voice of Raven came behind him. Noel paused and looked up at the ceiling.  
  
"I say we find Nigel."

* * *

Jedi: Phew, done. That was a kinda serious chapter but don't worry! The next one will be lighter hearted! See you in the next chapter!


	16. Undertaker: There Are More Things In Hea...

Flashing Lights and Sounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide but I DO own my own characters.

-------------------------------------------

Chapter 16: There Are More Things In Heaven and Earth Horatio...  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
Alone...  
  
A demon sits alone, being cast from the heaven that he had created for himself, by the very people he had fought so hard to protect.

And so he sat, alone, lost in a world where they would not accept him even for his triumphs. At the moment there were only his thoughts.  
  
Oh, and the rain. It dripped from his hat, slowly at first, until the rain picked up and soaked him through to the bone, through the bandages, into his wounds, through his very essence. Poor young fool, perched on the top of the old bridge like a bird waiting for its master's undeniable return, but no one would come for him.  
  
He stared out to the water's edge, away from the tower, trying to think, trying to rationalize what had happened, what he had done. Lightning glinted off his face before it once again faded to nothingness; saddened blue eyes stared out into the void of darkness.  
  
_Nigel Hastings, from this point on you are no longer a member of the Teen Titans. _  
  
Drivers on the bridge thought it may have been the devil sitting on the support, preying on passers by, others saw who it was and wondered if he was keeping lookout for something, perhaps a mafia cargo ship carrying drugs from Italy. They obviously watch too much TV.  
  
The truth was he didn't know what he was doing there. So high up above water. I suppose after the numerous amounts of times he's fallen in and survived, it doesn't really matter anymore, even if he did fall in it wouldn't matter, as he was now very much on his own with no one in the world who gave a damn about a singular homeless Blacktrinian. In actuality there were hundreds like him, without homes on earth, having grown sick of endless war and fled like him. But he didn't go on a vendetta to avenge them. Instead, he put away the back ally criminals to try and make them more comfortable, to give them a better way of life, and perhaps him being a superhero might make the people who run this world acknowledge him and his race a little more. But no, the government still didn't care, and swept under the rug like every other alien race, forced to live in urban slums unless you came with valuables and a trade you could practice here on their new found 'paradise'.  
  
It was strange. A few days ago he was inside the tower, laughing and joking with the others as if nothing was wrong, but now...all gone. Now he was an outcast, nothing more than a down-and-out fool who did all he could to save lives and ended up destroying one by mistake; a life that was never given the chance to breathe real air, never able to smile or laugh or play, a child that was never given the chance to live because of his imprudent mistake.

He hated himself for it, but he also hated other things.  
  
Earth was a haven from the empire that once bore Nigel and his brethren. The doctor recalled in his mind the past of the empire from one of the textbooks he had read when he was younger. In ancient times the Empire was commanded by a man called Gorang Hollocus. He had planned that Earth was the perfect target to pull under the Empire's newly formed thumb. The earth was primitive and in a state of confusion, easy territory for the up and coming kingdom to swallow whole. But the ruler was a fool and a coward. In a bluff, a race that was protecting the earth for their own reasons said that a race of fierce battle hardened warriors called the Altagar were the protectors of the earth and said that they would destroy the Blacktrinian race.  
  
Panicking, the ruler got his legal advisors to write up a treaty. Not happy with the cowardice of his superior, the military, lead by the strategist Kan t'ro, went to find this race of 'super beings' and test their might to see if they were as powerful as the other race claimed. The reports were slightly exaggerated, as the race stood no chance against them. By the time the military got back however, the emperor had signed the agreement that his race would never try and take over the planet Earth. And so was the law, which is why earth was so perfect for a man trying to escape what he once called friends and family.  
  
But now actually on Earth, is it such a paradise? Before, when he was part of the Titans, he would get warm smiles and only the odd estranged gaze, but now that he lost his position those gazes appeared more and more, to the point that he can't even show his face out of doors during the day. Lost from his family, lost from his friends, this shell of a man had nothing left.  
  
"HELP!"

Except maybe saving the day, he did have his obligation after all, and once the super hero bug bites, it's hard to get out of it. Turning, the alien saw what had happened, a bus loaded with children was teetering on the edge of the bridge. But then again, when is a bus that was in danger not loaded to the brim with children? Looking over at the tower he saw all the lights were off, meaning that either no one was there or they had taken an early night off.  
  
"I'm on my way!" He shouted as he grinded down the large support beam of the bridge towards the helpless children, sparks coming off his claws even in the tempestuous weather. Drivers stopped to see this demon descend from a great height...and once again change came to strike down on Nigel, as rather than seeing a member of the Titans, they saw a villain who wanted to finish off whatever job he had started.  
  
Nigel, or should I say Scalpel, calculated the situation quickly and determined that the bus needed to be pulled back as soon as possible, so, using the momentum that he had gained, he plunged his claws deep into the metal chassis, gaining a foot hold onto this mechanical beast. Children screamed, and drivers got out of their cars and raced over. To help? No. To try and remove Scalpel from the bus.  
  
With all his might, and pure will, the doctor pulled, his body tensing and straining, water still dripping from his hat and ears as his gritted teeth ground under the weight. The fact he was soon attacked by a group of adults didn't really help matters.  
  
"Hey! Someone call the cops! This guy is trying to kill people!"

A man grabbed hold of Scalpel's arm and pulled, trying to get his claws out of the bus.  
  
"Foolish human!" Scalpel yelled as he shrugged him off and continued to pull on the bus, before five men all tackled the alien to the ground and the bus started to go over the edge. Enraged by their blindness, the ex-Titan threw them off into one another and grabbed his glaive. Taking a rope he had in his cape, he tied it to his weapon, when and where he bought said rope didn't matter as he took it and threw the glaive down into the bus, breaking the back window and with one quick tug on the rope the glaive extended, shooting through the two back, side windows, effectively creating some form of support bar. With his claws deep in the ground, he held the weight of the bus still, his arms straining under the immense weight, but with all the injuries that he had sustained less than a week ago, it was becoming difficult.

"Someone... please help them." He begged to himself as the rope slipped out of his wet metallic claws a little before he reasserted his grip, right at the end of the rope. He bent down to try and use his leg muscles to pull the bus up but he knew that it was in vain and on his own he might fail these people.  
  
"Please?"

Nothing.  
  
And the bus finally slipped out of his grip.

He fell, landing on the cold hard concrete, his blue eyes staring at the sky, hoping for absolution. Another group of lives he could not save.

Yet...there was no splash, and this puzzled the young Blacktrinian slightly, as he looked over the edge to see the buss surrounded by a form of energy.  
  
Black energy.  
  
He stared into the sky, wondering, and there he saw the dark angel herself, her cape fluttering in the wind and the rain. Even as the maelstrom got heavier she floated there, unmoving and inexorable in the eye of the storm. One of the few titans that still liked him, still respected him as a person. As a Titan.  
  
Raven, her arm still in a sling, floated down as the bus moved up against the weather and gravity and as soon as it was close enough, Scalpel grabbed the rope that he had placed and dragged the bus onto the bridge, and in a paired effort they managed to 'save the day'.

The drivers, who had previously tried to hurt the young hero, approached him now with their hands on the back of their necks, in their pockets and so on, obviously now realizing who he is.  
  
"Um... Sorry." The first one said. Nigel just gave a harsh glare along side a slight growl that forced the by-standers to back up a little before he then turned to leave until Raven stopped him.  
  
"Scalpel... Are you okay?" She asked lightly, still in a slight monotone as rain blew her hood back, as well as blowing Nigel's hat off. He luckily caught it quickly before it blew off the bridge. Walking over, he pulled his glaive back from the bus with one quick and powerful tug and started to wrap the rope up.  
  
"I don't know any more." He stated lightly, his dark eyes staring down at the short woman, probably one of the few people who could actually understand him, as she too was a demon in the world of men. Before he could refer to her more feelings, his ears twitched as he faintly heard the sound of a grappler being fired amongst the rain drops in the distance. "The Titans will be here soon." He stated, looking over to the tower.  
  
"True, but I don't think they know you are here." Raven replied, replacing her hood.  
  
"Maybe." He replied, doubting it. And his evidence of their knowledge was brought on radio waves as Robin called into Raven.  
  
"Don't let Scalpel escape! Capture it at all costs!" The dark pair heard the voice of their leader over the Titan-com in her belt. Raven looked back at the alien who took her by the shoulders.  
  
"Forgive me Raven." He drew back and hit her deep in the ribs, a punch that sent shockwaves out in the water around her feet at what appeared to be pure power (indeed, the effort made him twist his body to an extreme). She landed on her knees, her body frozen in shock, and he jumped away, using the bridge's cables as his escape route.  
  
A moment or two later, Robin and Savior arrived to aid the goth lovely, finding her trying to breathe on the wet floor. Robin shouted in anger and fired off his grapple again, swinging off as he returned to the tower, with no hope of finding the long reaching alien now.  
  
"Why did he..." Noel asked, surprised at this turn of events.  
  
"He didn't hurt me." Raven, finally managing to catch her breath back, said as she stood upright, brushing her cape off. "He wanted to knock me down so I couldn't follow."  
  
"But still, why didn't he just run off?" Noel said, the rain still trailing down his face.  
  
"Because he knew that Robin would give me a few 'words' regarding the fact I let him go." She responded, looking briefly in the direction her friend had fled.  
  
"So it was just for show." Noel stated, also looking in the direction he had run.  
  
"Yes but he knew exactly were to get me in order to stop me breathing properly." She gasped a little, her breathing still a little laboured, her hand trying to aid her diaphragm to move.  
  
"I think it's a shame he was thrown off, he's a good person at heart." He turned to Raven, who walked over to the bus driver. "What were you doing out so late anyway?"

The bus driver, who was a slightly dishevelled man, sighed and replied.  
  
"School trip. The kids had just been to the theatre to see a play about a man who was thrown out of his own clan."

Raven stared at Savior, who shrugged.

"Irony, thy name is life."

----------------------------------------------  
  
That was some time ago. This is now. 

And so we rejoin the alien who had previously escaped from his former master. He had once again scaled a bridge to overlook everything; however his choice this time was the old abandoned bridge. You could see the new Steven's bridge from it, but this one was an old rail bridge with a footpath. Trains didn't run across this bridge much anymore, not since the incident a few years ago when someone tired to blow it up in a fit of paranoid delusions saying that people were using this bridge to ship weapons.  
  
"Strange view." He looked on at the previous bridge.  
  
"Indeed it is." A new voice called from behind. The Titan twisted quickly and nearly fell off the bridge because his metallic claws couldn't gain any perchance on the metal work, but was luckily able to catch a hold on the side just in time. Clambering up, he saw who had addressed him.  
  
It was a young woman, around his age, maybe a year older. She had brown shoulder length hair with deep brown eyes and a rounded face. Her attire was strange as it consisted of a black jacket with 'tails' with a grey waist coat underneath which was both covered by a black long coat. Her trousers were suit trousers with black striped going vertical and smart black shoes. The shirt she wore was a bright white shirt with a butterfly collar and a purple cravat with black stripes going diagonally across it. To finish off her attire she had a black top hat with a purple band.  
  
"I'm so sorry!" She spoke as she offered a hand to the young alien, who quickly took it and in a paired effort, pulled him back onto the bridge. "I didn't mean to startle you." She said softly.  
  
"What are you doing out here in this weather?" He asked, looking down at her. She had a curvy figure with wide hips and thick thighs, but her height didn't really help her out as she wasn't exactly the tallest person in the world and so she looked... stocky.  
  
"I always come here, just to relax and watch the hustle and bustle of everyone else." She replied, looking out onto the horizon. "Why did you run away from the Titans?" She asked politely, a little shy at first. The question didn't really surprise him as he had appeared in the newspaper, so it was public knowledge he was a Titan but seeing him running away from his friends was a little disconcerting.  
  
"I did something I wasn't supposed to, and now I'm against them rather than with." There was a slight pause.  
  
"So you're a villain?" She asked, almost amused.  
  
"Not yet. I'm still a hero, just not with them anymore. Perhaps this is a good time to quit." He sighed. The pair stared out towards the new bridge before she took another look at him and his non-water proof jacket, seeing how his old bandages hung from him because the rain pulled them off. He had been kicked to hell and back, yet he was still able to stand. Such is the determination of a Blacktrinian, but finding a place to rest is another matter, as he was always moving.  
  
"Listen, you're soaked. Come back to my shop and we'll get you dry." She said, offering to lead the way. He was a little reluctant at first. She turned around to see him still standing there. Slowly she walked back, took his arm, and pulled him to her shop.

------------------------------------------

"Here, drink this. It'll make you feel better." The young woman offered him a cup and sat down in a chair in an office, presumably at her shop. Well I say shop but I really am telling a bit of a fib, you see, this was Sophie Mathews, the local Undertaker.  
  
"Thank you." He took the cup graciously and drank it down, seeing as it had been his first proper drink within a few days. As he sat on the sofa there, in a bathrobe, he looked around her living room. It was relaxing; it had dark green walls and comfortable oak furniture. To top it all off it had a wood fire, so that was lit and Scalpel placed his clothing near by to dry out. His medical bag, which was hidden in his cape, was also drying but its contents were drying a more traditional way without any assistance from heat as things like gel packs and the occasional drip feed solution he carried would spoil if heated. It surprised the young woman how much stuff was actually inside the small bag, but then again the wonders of pockets never ceased to amaze people.  
  
"Do you have anywhere to go?" She asked lightly, sitting down with her own cup. She had taken off her jacket and over coat. Her grey waistcoat was simple but silky, with a gold watch chain going from the centre to one of her pockets.

"No. I'd been out there in the summer rain for several days." He finished off the hot drink and placed his cup down. He sighed lightly again. Everything seemed to be falling apart one part at a time. He may as well have allowed the White Hole to kill him. It would have hurt less and been less complicated. 

There was a brief pause as they both waited for the other to speak. The rain became heavier and the clouds were even darker than before, only lit up by the lightning that arced across the sky. The crackling of the fire and the thunder was the only things to intersect the quiet in the room.  
  
"Well you could-"  
  
"Mind if I-"

A brief laugh between them before they both paused and started over.  
  
"I can let you stay here for a few days; I need an assistant to do lifting for me so that would be a job for you." Sophie said, sipping her hot chocolate lightly before continuing. "I usually have a group of people who help me work, but they quit for some unknown reason, all of them. So I'm on my own now, and I'm not strong enough to lift the equipment."  
  
"I'd appreciate the work." There was another pause. "But, why me?"

His question came as a surprise to her, but she just gave a warm smile and shrugged. It wasn't hard to understand why he asked such a question. He dealt with villains and thugs all the time. He has seen the darker side of humans, and how often that hide behind good intentions, so when someone does something like this out of the kindness of their own heart it may seem a little suspect.  
  
"Well you've done a lot for the city, I think you deserve better than to stay out on a wet bridge and freeze to death." She replied, standing up and taking his cup out to the kitchen for a refill. In all honesty, Sophie was a kind hearted young woman. Her grandfather owned the funeral home/morgue in which she lives and works in. However, eventually his business became his fate, as with all humans, and when he died her father refused to take over the business. Her father was some big time business man, while her mother was some hot shot movie star, a gorgeous and glamorous blonde bombshell, and she didn't want to dirty her hands with such a business. So at a young age she took over the family business, against her mother's warnings, and has been successful for the past two years.  
  
She came back in with a blanket, but by the time she got there he was already asleep. She laughed lightly and walked over to him. Lying him down in a more comfortable position, she placed the blanket over him and bid him good night. She made a mental note to call a doctor in the morning. She wasn't blind after all.  
  
"Night hero." She smiled once more to herself and made her way upstairs to her own bed for rest.  
  
Blissfully unaware that a greedy man had his eye fixed on her location.  
  
--------------------------------------------------

Scalpel's night, though restless, was a relaxing one. It had been his first decent night's sleep ever since he left the tower (He had tried to sneak into a pillow factory, but his metallic claws alerted the guards). His breathing that night was somewhat laboured though.  
  
As you may remember, Scalpel had been stabbed through the back, choked, beaten, throttled, clawed at and even shot in his encounter with the White Hole. His body was a royal mess. Add that to the never healing wound in his chest given to him by Savior when he had tried to kill Myth, and you might just be able to say things were not going his way. Over the past five months he had been kicked around, thrown about and his body was generally abused in attempts to either kill him, or escape his capture.  
  
It was better than his previous occupation, a doctor or rather mechanic for the Empire, fixing people up to go out and get maimed, mauled, or killed again. He felt some stings and pains, but his exhaustion was too great for him to take more then a passing notice of it. What finally woke him up were a pair of voices talking, and the mention of his name.  
  
"I think he's waking up." A male voice said as he started to stir. Sure enough, he saw a man with light blonde hair, in his mid thirties, changing the bandage on his cheek.  
  
"Huh?" He looked around to see Sophie standing there as well, dressed up in her usual uniform.  
  
"These are some pretty nasty wounds." The man, whose badge said Dr Morrison, remarked. "Not only are they severe to begin with, you've managed to pull all the stitches, making the injuries even worse."  
  
"Even the internal ones?" Nigel asked as he rubbed his eyes with his palm.  
  
"I'm not sure. I'll check back in a day or so, but I can't see any signs of internal bleeding." He finished replacing the bandages. "My advice to you, Mr. Scalpel, is to stay still for the next few days. Whoever did the stitches the first time around was an incompetent, and whoever did them the second time was just unfortunate."  
  
"I was the incompetent." He smiled. "It's hard to stitch your own chest closed when you tend to bleed over yourself." He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep again, the painkillers kicking in. The doctor looked over at Sophie, who then led him out.

You can understand Nigel's annoyance, it's like being a carpenter and then going to another person's carpentry store and saying their wardrobe is a flat pack set of shelves. Right?  
  
"What did he mean by that?" He asked.  
  
"Maybe I can get him to explain when he is awake." She replied, and nodded. "Thanks again, by the way."  
  
"Hey, it makes a change; I don't often come to a funeral director's to see someone living."

Sophie groaned. All her life she had been getting this. Every time she was ill she went to the doctor's and they would ask her when her next corpse was, or asking when she was going to be embalmed. He smiled, waved and left in that order.  
  
"Is he gone?" She jumped. Spinning on her heals she saw Nigel standing behind her as if nothing was wrong.  
  
"Yes he is, and you are supposed to be resting." She commented, somewhat of a pout on her face before she tried to push him back. No luck really. Nigel, despite having more holes in him than a cheese grater, was still quite the immovable object. And Sophie was far from an unstoppable force.  
  
"If I am unable to do something, ANYTHING, then I might go insane." He replied softly. "Now, how about that work you offered me?" He smiled his ever so toothy grin as she gave up trying to push him. She panted lightly from the effort, placing her hands on her knees.  
  
"I am far too unfit to try and push you around." She stood up again, neatened the cravat she wore, made sure her cuffs were in place and grabbed her coat. "You are not doing anything until I am satisfied that you are strong enough. And...hey, didn't you fall asleep?"

There was a pause.  
  
"A ruse, my hostess. I didn't want to spend any more time in that doctor's company. And besides, human painkillers do not have the same potency." He shrugged again. Being a Blacktrinian, he had two hearts, and so drugs moved around his system at an alarming speed, but it meant they were not as effective because of the distance they had to go.

"Well I have to go out and grab some things before I open up today. Stay in the living room and watch a movie okay?"  
  
"Which one?" He asked her, looking a little bemused.  
  
"Any one, just don't make too much of a mess."

He shrugged lightly after Sophie has shut the door and walked into the living room again. And so he searched though the shelf, eagerly waiting to see what was there.  
  
He groaned. Chickflicks, more Chickflicks, a Race movie, Cannonball Run, Gumball 3000 and so on and so fourth. She's a hopeless romantic piston head. Great.

He managed to get to the back of the shelf though and found a rather interesting looking movie with two men in black suits, dark glasses and black hats on the cover. It stared a man called Dan Akroyd and John Belushi.  
  
Oh what an exciting day he has in front of him. He was somewhat grateful though, it was his first day off in a long time and he could do with a little bit of vegetating in front of a few good movies.

-------------------------------------- 

We now join the kindly undertaker as she makes her way down the road, towards the shops. It was an average day there, nothing very exciting was happening, everyone going about their lives, doing this and that.  
  
See, in the normal world, things didn't happen every few seconds, and action wasn't around the corner. Most of us know this all too well. Boredom seems to strike us when we most want to do something. It's the world's wondrous way of reminding us that we should appreciate it when things do happen. Or DON'T happen.  
  
Today was Sophie's day. Nothing extremely violent was going to happen, just something life changing.  
  
As I said, Sophie took over the family business of the undertakers with quite a few complaints from her rich parents and her greedy brother. She and her brother, though only being a half brother, never saw eye to eye. She liked things to stay the same and remain relaxing, while he wanted everything his way where and when he beckoned for it. Unfortunately for him, Sophie didn't comply.  
  
There was an inheritance clause in her grandfather's will, saying that anyone would gain the property and indeed the business itself if they wanted to keep it as a memorial service directory. Only when no one claimed it would it be turned over to whom ever wanted the land. Before her brother could claim it, she jumped in and said she would run the business.  
  
Significantly spoiled by his father, he used what political power 'Daddy' had in his pocket to try and get the land, as it was supposedly rightfully his, as if it been given to him by fate. The fact that it stood on what would be prime real estate, and that inside it was huge, didn't mean a thing, really. Really.

But Sophie never backed down and with her small time lawyer friends; she managed to beat the big movie lawyers at their own game.

"Hello dear Sister."  
  
Until today that is.

"Ah!" She spun on her heals inside a local supermarket, nearly dropping her shopping basket. "Tony! What are you doing here?!"

She stepped back a little. They never got along at the best of times, but after this whole incident with the ownership, it had just escalated things even more. As I said Anthony Walter Mathews was the typical spoiled rich kid. He went to private schools and he now belonged to a University, You know, one in which you have to give a 'gift' of one million dollars to the dean before entry. He was part of a special club for the most privileged of students who got better food, accommodation and even grades because their teachers said so, because his father was such a valued member of the community. But it was never enough. He wanted as much money as possible and all of it right now. He owned three luxury sports cars, a limo and even has his own butlers, chuffers and maids.  
  
Sophie, however was different. She went to public school and she has yet to attend college or university because of the undertaker business. She doesn't care for money; as to her it's worth nothing in the end. Her only car is an old Ford Boss 305 Mustang that she had rebuilt and restored from scratch. And by that I mean she had spent a huge amount of her own money and a lot of her free time restoring it to perfect working order while doing all the work herself. As for the servants, the only person that looks after her is herself.  
  
"What's wrong? Aren't I allowed to visit my own sister?"  
  
"Depends, why are you here?" She snapped back at him, pulling her coat a little closer to her.  
  
"Always dressing in those dishevelled rags you call clothes. My, my, why don't you ask Daddy for a little bit of cash." He shrugged lightly, the fine leather on his jacket creaking lightly.  
  
"I made my bed; I have to sleep in it. Going solo was my idea. Are you done? Or did you want to taunt me about my fashion sense a little more?" She glared at him, his arrogance showing through.  
  
"Well...there was another thing, but I doubt a commoner like you would understand." He paused, and then cleaned the wax out of his ears, not even looking down at her. She growled a little. "But very well. I have found a little 'loophole'." He smirked a little.  
  
"Loophole?" She pondered, looking up at her taller, smug sibling. Had he really devised a way to get what he wanted? That must be it. He's come here to gloat.  
  
"Well according to the will, if the ownership of his shop was to change hands amongst the family, it must be done of the anniversary of his death. Anything other than that wouldn't count." He paused for dramatic effect. "And seeing as it's the old man's death day today, I have my 'friends' tearing your house apart as we speak for the deeds to his shop. At midnight tonight, the store is mine!"

He thought Sophie would have cowed at this, trembling before him like the ungrateful bitch she was.

She didn't. He raised a brow.

"Why are you so calm? Are you not worried?"

This time she was the one who smirked.  
  
"There is a slight flaw in your plan."  
  
---------------------------------------------------

"Is this the place?" One of the thugs asked, looking through the window. Luckily the front room was actually at the back of the house and Nigel was wide awake, watching movies, while commenting that half of the budget of this movie must have gone into police cars.  
  
"Yeah, the boss said that we're to go in, trash the place, grab the deed, and then come out and give it to him before the cops arrive." He said, lifting up his Black Jack to the door's little window. And no, I don't mean the card. It's a lump of various materials, usually solid leather or plastic, hard enough to knock a man unconscious. He broke the window and unlocked the door. "See? Easy!" He laughed as the door swung open.  
  
"Oh really?" A clawed hand came out and grabbed the man's head, and with little effort tossed him against an adjacent wall. He bounced off and tried to get up...at least until he saw who had tossed him. And he read newspapers.  
  
"SHIT! A Titan! Let's get out of here!" He shouted, the thug scrambling to his feet. The second thug stopped him.  
  
"Look at him though, how is he even standing?" He said, as he scanned the bandages. Scalpel stared at them with one eye, the other one having been covered because of cuts above and below the eye. To prevent the wounds from opening, they had covered his eye also. Ironically, it was on the same side that had been ripped out of the White Hole.  
  
"We can take him." They psyched themselves up. Today was the day that they took out a Titan!  
  
"Are you ready boys?" He asked, cracking his neck. "Then let us play."  
  
And with that, they charged him.

-----------------------------------------------

Jedi: A short but sweet chapter there. I hope you liked it.


	17. Undertaker: The Best Defence

Flashing Lights and Lounds  
  
By Jedi-and  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide but I DO own my own characters.  
  
Authors note: I have adjusted Scalpel's age from 16, 17 this year to the age of 17, 18 this year. In English he is one year older now, just because I preferred that age bracket for him. Hey, I'm an author, I can work on whims if I so desire.

-------------------------------------------

Chapter 17: The Best Defence...  
  
-------------------------------------------

I'm not quite sure the two thugs knew what they where getting themselves into when they finally decided to attack Scalpel.  
  
Scalpel's sole occupation for a few years previous to joining the Titans was war, and how to survive it. We're talking dodging live ammo while he was trying to drag his fellow Blacktrinians off the front lines. As he has pointed out time and again, he was placed in some of the harshest environments on Tamaran in order to save lives, which also included his own. He knows how to survive, consciously and throughly.

Then our dear doctor joined the Titans and became a super hero. Let me explain something to you. Modern super heroes don't die of unnatural causes unless sacrificing themselves for the good of the planet. Much like when Tim Drake, or rather the current Robin, while he was fighting off the deadly Ebola mutation disease known as the Clench, lasting long enough for a Mr Valley, aka the now lost and possibly dead hero Azreal, to find the antidote while most people would have died in half the time, his memory forever imprinted by the disease but alive. Or Starfire, when she was given to an alien race in order to prevent another war, which was followed by six long years of slavery. She managed to escape and find her way to Earth, worse for wear but again, alive. Another example was Cyborg's origins, back when he was just plain old Victor Stone, a young man who nearly died because of an incident where a blob creature came from another dimension. As strange as it sounds it happened, and it killed his mother, Eleanor Stone, in the process and left him so injured that he needed a new body, one his father gave him. One he did not want at the time. He was bitter, but it made him who he is today. Alive.  
  
I could go on and on about other examples of heroes surviving situations that were extraordinary in their life threatening degrees. The Final Night was such an example where diligence, endurance and determination managed to win over power, abilities and knowledge. Everything that has happened is a combination of luck and stamina. Even Scalpel's arrival in a damaged spacecraft that crashed while leaving him unharmed to join a super hero team just showed one thing: Super Heroes are natural survivors.

Add his super hero rating onto his innate survival ability given to him from a war and you have someone who can come out of any situation and still be on top.

In theory.  
  
So picking on Scalpel was never the greatest of ideas, even in his current condition.

But they kept on running; unfortunately for them it was straight into Scalpel's open arms. Hooking both of his arms under the first Thug's, he continued his previous momentum and slammed his head into the wall at surprising speed. The second punk stood there for a moment or two to try and figure out what just happened. Scalpel just turned around and tried to remove the man's jaw via his foot. 

Still seeing stars from the painful blow that he was dealt before hand, the first man had managed to get up and threw a punch. The alien batted it down, stamped on his foot to keep it in place and thrust his own fist forward into the nose of the man, and since his foot was still under Scalpel's, the first thug couldn't move anywhere, giving a double whammy: the blow and the whip lash that followed. He fell to the ground in a groaning heap.

The second Thug managed to connect with a blow to the back of the hero's head, which sent him into the adjacent wall, but Scalpel decided to fight him with his own medicine. Reaching down and grabbing the leg of the previously fallen man, he turned and swung him over his head so he landed on his comrade, who was in slight awe of the Titan's strength, before his friend flattened him.  
  
Thug from above anyone?

That was pretty much it: the ruffians were out cold. Feeling somewhat condescending Scalpel knelt down next to them, though he paused. There was something comforting that he was doing the right thing, yet at the same time it was a little distressing. It wasn't the fact that this was more of a back ally brawl than actually stopping a wrongdoing; after all he had been in street fights before. It was a feeling of cautious familiarity that you didn't want to tread into, in case something happened, almost as if you were working for a rental store but got your rented movies from somewhere else. Treading on someone else's toes. It was uncomfortable to be dealing with such villains again when he was, a week or so ago, doing it as a business, a business he had decided to get out of, and yet find himself now doing it almost it out of nostalgia.

But then again these were thugs, not like real villains. Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke the Terminator, had increased strength, reactions and it was rumoured that he could use ninety, yes nine-zero, percent of his brain, making him a master tactician and perhaps the most intellectual man on the planet. Robin had even mentioned that Batman was a little afraid of Slade, in a tactical sense anyway. Now that was a real threat. Villains were survivors too: a villain never seems to stay down, no matter how many times you harm them or send them up the river. He pondered before shaking his head to try and free him from such useless thoughts.  
  
"I think that is all for today." He said quietly, about to go. Before he could say another word or take another step, he heard static coming from one of the fallen brutes. A small black device was attached to them.

Slowly, he picked it up.  
  
-----------------------------------------

"Neil! Paul! What is going on? Did you get the deed?" Sophie's older brother Tony asked into his police style walkie-talkie. He had decided to go all out on this whole secret mission thing. I mean come on; it wasn't like it was his money he was spending.

"Neil?" Tony repeated. By this time he had dragged Sophie out of the store and into one of his cars via a body guard, and they were on their way towards her home, or as he thought, his home.  
  
"Neil can not come to the phone right now, can I take a message?" He heard this cheerful voice at the other end of the line. Sophie grinned madly. Her Hero had saved the day. Even if he never helped her again, he had come through for her this one time.  
  
"Who the hell is this?" Tony shouted into the radio. Nigel had obviously been taking lessons from Gauntlet in banter before he left.  
  
"Good day sir, my name is Scalpel, and who may I ask is calling?"

Well, not really banter, as he was adapting Earth phone edict to taunt his unknown assailant. Tony's eyes went wide at the sound of that name. He had lived in Jump City for a while: it was, after all, a summer break and he was down from university. He had heard of Scalpel in action, and they said he was a real monster with a weakness to do the right thing, and from what Tony could recall, someone who couldn't be bought off either, which put him in a real position. He knew that being a Titan pretty much meant you couldn't bribe him. Robin had single-handedly weeded out all the corruption in the police department as well. For him the Titans were nothing but bad news, because he knew that money and power didn't affect them, unless someone in a gaudy costume tried to rob a bank, and then the Titans tended to affect THEM a lot more as they often ended up in jail while the Titans went back to their Tower and did whatever they did between people, city, and world savings.  
  
"Good work Scalpel!" Sophie said as she suddenly grabbed Tony's hand and squeezed the button to speak.  
  
"Thank you Miss Mathews!" He replied, in a light tone.  
  
"You little..." Tony started; his eyes ablaze. "You knew I was coming didn't you?" He turned to his sister, anger seething in him..  
  
"Sorry, you just came to me at the wrong time." Sophie said. A smirk worked its way onto her face: such a joy to see his carefully laid plans fall apart at the seams. She would have continued to gloat, if he hadn't slapped her across his limo so hard she nearly hit her head on the flanking seats. His goons helped her up, only to support her weight for the next hit.  
  
"Why can't you understand?!" He bellowed at her, drawing back and hitting her across the face again and again. "Dad wanted all of this for ME! NOT YOU!" In his rage he had not let go of the button, and Scalpel heard everything. However because Sophie's brother still had his fingers on said button, Scalpel could say or do nothing. Though on the other end he was starting to get even madder then Tony, and unlike the spoiled, vicious punk, his was a righteous rage.

Unfortunately, Tony had some brains as well, as he realised this predicament Scalpel was in and had an idea. He may have been a spoiled brat, but he had his charms and one of them was being able to think on his feet. With a dark and menacing smile coming across his nonexistent lips, he brushed his light hair back and adjusted himself before he spoke.  
  
"Okay Mr Scalpel, I'll do you a deal." He smiled to the alien voice on the other side, his own voice a lot calmer than before. "We won't touch a hair on Sophie's head, as long as you stay well away from my men." He knew what would happen next. Scalpel would do that deep growl he does when he is angry but uncertain, and then he would respond.  
  
He could read people just by their voice. What could he say? It's a gift.

And Scalpel happily complied. With a growl and a pause he spoke again, but it wasn't quite what he was expecting.  
  
"What coward would go after a defenceless person? If you want to prove a point, why not come here and show your face?"  
  
"I am not stupid, I have seen your work." Tony laughed into the handset. "You're a true monster, but I know your only weakness." He grabbed the hair of Sophie and flashed his evil grin once again. "You're soft, you love to be the hero and you would even put yourself in the line of fire to do so." With each passing second, he threw his sister around by her soft brown hair, almost taunting, playing with the ex-hero. All he could do is hear the commotion. "So do what I say and nothing will happen."  
  
Another growl echoed from the device. What should he do? Should he go along with this? She was in danger, but he wasn't someone he could trust. How did he know that was the real Sophie? It could have been someone else, an actress employed to help trick the young alien. Humans were complicated, tricky individuals.  
  
People always seem to talk about an inner clock.  
  
Tick.  
  
Something to tell you when something is amiss, to tell you when the weather had changed.  
  
Tock.  
  
To tell you your own sense of time so you know when it's time to get up, or when it's time to get something. That little something inside you.  
  
Tick.  
  
That little something that always slows down when ever something big happens. Usually, it was only for when something life changing happened, but this was something that our young friend wasn't very good at.

.......  
  
Negotiation. Every second counted. He could almost feel it, each strand of her hair being pulled and each gasping breath as she tried to regain her composure, trying not to give whoever was on the end the satisfaction of her pain.  
  
Her fate could be in his hands. What was he prepared to do?  
  
Tock.  
  
"Fine, I'll stand back." He finally managed to say, his hand tightly clasping the device. He wasn't prepared to let Sophie get harmed for his bad luck and timing. He wasn't having the best of weeks, and he knew it. Everything he seemed to touch turned to turn against him, seemed to hurt him or others in some way or another.  
  
What could he do if he kept on screwing up? He felt like he was making mistake after mistake, even though we all now know that his last big mistake wasn't actually his fault, but in his mind it was. Everyone said that it is a person' heart that makes them do stupid things, and they would mostly be right, however sometimes it helps you to do things that the ordinary person wouldn't do to make sure that you could protect the ones you love, the ones you trust. He wasn't going to let this go, he needed to do something, anything.  
  
Anything.

Tony smirked to himself as he rested back into his seat, a smile that curled up at the ends. With each passing moment his smile grew broader and broader, his perfectly straight teeth glistening against a backdrop: it was a strange smile.  
  
"See? All good things come to he who waits." He leaned close to his sister, her middle length hair gripped in the brutish hand of one of his degenerate bodyguards. He wanted her to fear, respect and...  
  
Well the last thing didn't matter as it quickly faded from his mind. She'd just spat in his face.

Their faces became mirrored in the disgust they had for each other. The mutual hate and loathing that was only separated by the blob of spit that rolled down over his eye and onto his cheek. He lent back and pulled a napkin from his 30,000 dollar suit and wiped it off, his face reflecting a calm anger. Inside however, was a maelstrom, a pure whirlwind of emotion. In the Immortal style (well, maybe not) of the great Flea, who was of course Andrew Benjamin while using the H.E.R.O device, Rage and Humiliation were but some of the 32 flavours of emotions inside of him.  
  
I don't know why, but the pure cheesiness behind the original quote makes this author laugh.

Back to the story. He didn't pull back to hit her, nor did he signal his 'friends' to do so. He just looked at her for a moment or two.  
  
"Shall I tell you something?" He started, not a note of anger in his voice. "I doubt it will surprise you, but people like me rule the world." He laughed to himself. It was funny, in his opinion at any rate, that freaks like the Titans, metahumans with bad intentions, spend so much time and effort into trying to take over the world, or to steal precious items, or to do other things he couldn't much care about, and they would be beaten up, knocked around and thrown in jail until their next appearance with an even more outlandish plot to do the same thing, and again they would get thwarted. And yet... He didn't have any powers, he didn't have any abilities yet him, and people like him, ran the world.

"Without the corporate body, the world's economy would collapse within a few seconds. The world needs people like me. Oh sure, the poor folk complain that the chairmen and women are the cancers of this world, that we made the rich richer and the poor poorer and all that jazz. And you know something? They're right, but I also know that it is the way things should be. Those with money have power, and those who have power should govern those who don't. These 'special' freak show powers aren't real power, just some form of false gift, a way for fate to compensate those who was given a shitty deal in one way or another. And the people love them because they lived by a 'higher' code of ethics?" He laughed to himself.

"What a load of bullshit. I tried to buy Titan Tower once, when it was still just the labs created by Dr. Silas Stone. It was expensive to run, and even more so to buy the building, let alone the prime real estate it was on. And yet they don't have jobs, not one of them, not even a part time job of some description. They don't work, and yet they don't pay taxes either. No, the city pays for them to sit on their 'holier-than-thou' arses until the next fruitcake in a garish and absurd costume shows up so the Titans can deal with them with their even more ridiculous and even gaudier costumes. Jump City gladly pays them so they can come and ruin everything with more efficacy than an army of wrecking balls. And where does that come from? The lazy bastard in the doll office?" He shook his head as a scowl came across his face. Just so you know, the poor folk are those who live in any house valued under the thirty thousand dollar price bracket. I told you, he's rich. Maybe more so than Stephen Pierce of Light City, who some Titans would know of in the future, and maybe even bordering on the same level as the Maxwell family or the billionaire Bruce Wayne, but then again, their wealth seemed endless and no one ever knew how deep their pockets went. Sophie was about to reply, but they had heard a thump on the roof. "Driver! What was that?" He shouted into his intercom.  
  
"Low branch sir." He replied. "The trees around her need sorting."  
  
"Well brother, shall we continue? Let me guess who has to pay out for this? You?" She finally replied. "I guess it is hard living in poverty. I mean, who could possibly make a decent living on over two hundred thousand a year?" She spat at him, this time in a verbal sense rather than the physical sense she had used to show her disrespect last time. He glared at her once again.  
  
"Closer to two hundred and fifty thousand actually." He replied, his tongue as sharp as a snake's fang. "But yes, I have to pay out every time those monstrosities decide to go ahead and blow something up in the name of good. So it's a little bit of a relief that I still have the power to make them back down." He smirked. "But spit at me again and you'll be gone. You'll just be a memory in my father's mind, wondering who the overweight woman with the brown hair was." He pointed a fully extended finger at her. She struggled a little before she was forced back down onto the floor. She felt the car slow down, slightly at first and then coming to a complete stop. "As for me, I am going to have a look at my new building, because at Twelve PM tonight, it will be mine." He laughed to himself as his chauffeur opened up the door and he stepped out, to meet his two other hired henchmen, who by now had recovered from the beating they had been given.  
  
"Hey boss." One of them said, rubbing his neck lightly, trying to dull down the whiplash he was given earlier. He nodded to them and they turned to break down the door. It had been locked again, and they couldn't be bothered to reach in and unlock it. Besides, it's good to get some stress out. His other goon got out the car, holding both of Sophie's hands together with his giant one. His other hand had a surprisingly small pistol, for a man of his size. It was a cheap RG 14 Saturday night special, one of the poorer guns on the market. Shows you how tight Tony was when it came to actually spending his money, he could have bought him some sort of high powered rifle or at least a larger handgun.  
  
"I hope you are enjoying the show sis, because you're homeless now. You'll HAVE to crawl back to Dad." Tony chuckled. She squirmed, trying to get out of the behemoth's hand. "Hold her fast, Warren." Warren smirked to himself as he almost manhandled her, shaking her like a rag doll to stop her moving. Eventually, he stopped and grinned again.  
  
"Hey, I wouldn't do that." A voice came from behind him.

Warren had fair reflexes, as he turned and raised his pistol. Even if it was pretty much worthless at a distance, he could tell that whoever spoke to him was directly behind him.

But the fact is, he shouldn't have raised a gun at all, really, as in no time at all it had been knocked out of his hand and he got a fist to the jaw.  
  
A fist we are all familiar with. Let me describe it to you: it has two metal talons and a thumb talon on a metal hand and palm. Going up past the permanent bracer that its owner had to help support such a fist, it went to grey and damaged skin, bandages covering it. Tony turned and tried to access several verbal expressions all at once. In such a jumble, a person tends to pick either the simplest or the first thing that comes to mind. And usually it turns out to be the same four letter word.

"Oh fuck."  
  
"Good morning Vietnam!" Scalpel shouted as he leapt off the roof of the limo, buckling said roof slightly with the springboard action and taking out the other two goons. He turned to see Tony standing there. He laughed and started to dance around.  
  
"I warn you, I was boxing champion at my college." The human said, as he raised his hands into a boxing pose, and started to jab at the air.

Having lived amongst humans for a long time, Nigel had managed to find a video of what was known as the Olympics, where athletes from all around the world came together in one month of games to prove who the better nation is in a peaceful manner (well, that was everyone's opinion except Noel, who found the whole idea laughable and said that the Olympics were cultural war, a way for countries to show each other up without actually getting in fights). Despite that cynical opinion, Nigel liked the idea and was familiar with the boxing as he and the other Titans were taking bets on it to see who would win, however the first time around the power in the tower went out just as the last round had started, and the next time the video became damaged just as the last fight started. Fate huh?

And so when Tony tried to intimidate the hero, all it did was leave him wide open for a beating. Not many people had seen Nigel's full strength, and no one on this planet had in any rate.  
  
And so, stepping in blindly, Anthony Mathews threw his one and only punch at the young adult, only to have it sidestepped and receive what could only be described as a straight punch from hell that sent him reeling back and slamming into his car, hard. He was still conscious, but he now had a broken nose and a few teeth missing. The undertaker by this time had made her way past the fights and was next to her now broken door to inspect the damage.  
  
"Got to love Karma." She smiled to herself.

Neil and Paul, the first two thugs, tried to take Scalpel out, again, however he just countered and threw one into the other... again. All the best laid plans of mice and men mean jack when you have a super hero on your side.

You're probably wondering what happened that allowed such an efficient attack. Well our alien friend, using his large pointed ears, pinpointed where the call was coming from and followed it. After the call was finished, he landed on the car just as they were passing beneath a large, over shadowing tree, making it seem like a branch had just hit the roof, rather than a Blacktrinian. He then stayed there until they came across the funeral director's house: when they had he switched his position to be above the door of the large limo-like car. After everyone got out, he sprung into action and hence left the devastation that had just occurred. Young Miss Mathews wasn't angry at the fact her personal protector had just destroyed her brother's face with one punch, she was grateful because that meant she didn't have to.

"Come on Hero, I'll get you some lunch." She smiled lightly, gesturing inside. This didn't last long unfortunately. as Mr Warren got back to his feet. Obviously Scalpel hadn't hit him hard enough, as he raised that pea shooter of a handgun and fired.

Scalpel dived out the way as Sophie ducked and covered her head. She had never much liked guns. Neither would you, after you have seen what it can do to a person on the receiving end. She has worked night and day on people who were shot to hell and back purely because the owner of the firearm thought that it was a good idea.

Soon the gunfire stopped as Scalpel ripped the gun from its previous owner's hand and threw it away. Unfortunately Scalpel was then caught by Warren, his large arms warping around his neck and upper body, and the gun managed to find it's way into the open hand of Paul aka Thug 1, who caught it and went to fire again, this time aiming true.  
  
"Don't fire you moron!" Tony tried to shout, but it just came out as a drowning bloody mess, which was unfortunately what his face was like. His henchman didn't listen. He started to pull the trigger. Not wanting to die by the hands of a group of thugs and thieves, Nigel tried to think of something.  
  
He quickly snapped out his foot and dragged over an outdoor rubbish bin which had somehow escaped the violence and then kicked it as hard as he could towards the gun wielding man. It was a plan, but regrettably a badly timed one. The man was indeed hit with the dustbin, but he was knocked back at the point of firing, meaning his aim, that was once true, was now facing at a different angle and hence at a different target.  
  
A five foot four tall target with short brown hair and dark eyes, wearing a suit. Yes, it was heading straight towards Sophie. The bullet fired. Time almost seemed to slow down; the blood could be heard pumping through Scalpel's veins. In movies like the Matrix, it seemed like such shots could be dodged, but in reality, when you knew you were going to die there was only one thing to do. Stand there.  
  
Unless you had a secret.  
  
Before the bullet hit her, something happened. Something that no one could have predicted. She exploded. But not in flames like most people would, she burst into what could only be described as a whiff of dark cloud.

Until that cloud broke apart and made noise.  
  
"Bats?!" Warren shouted, utterly stupefied at this sudden turn, to the point where he found himself letting go of the alien and trying to swat the creatures of the night away, with little or no effect. They spiralled up into the sky at the proverbial rate of knots, fluttering away, screeching and calling out to one another. The thugs could only scream in panic as some of the bats started to sink their fangs into their flesh, draining some of the blood that was in their precious arteries. Others went after Warren, who was now running around like a little girl trying to get the 'things' off of him. And Tony had now just crawled under his limo in the hopes that he wasn't seen, which, by all means possible, he wasn't. But he was heard and the bats got at him as well, taking chunks of flesh away with their teeth before all the bats became sated and flew away, away from the undertaker's.  
  
Nigel, who had not been attacked by the bats at all, stood there and pondered for a few moments.

He concluded that he too had no idea what had just happened and decided life would answer it for him.

He then went inside, grabbed his things, and headed towards the one place he knew the bats would go: sufficed to say, the devastation that was left in their wake was tremendous. The only word to be uttered from anyone in the group was their boss.  
  
"Bitch..."

-----------------------------------------

Alone on a bridge she now stood, her head in her hands and a trail of blood tracing down from her bottom lip towards her chin, cursing inwardly at everything. She didn't want things to be this way; she didn't want anything to be this way. Why does life hand her all the worst cards? Did fate hate her? What was she doing wrong?  
  
"Sophie?" A voice came behind her and she bolted upright, not caring that a tear was streaming down her cheek and her lips were blood red, with her cheeks a little flushed.  
  
"Leave me alone." She simply said, her voice soft, yet with a dark undertone. Nigel didn't go, he just walked forward and placed one clawed talon on her shoulder.  
  
"I know what you're thinking." He said. He smiled towards her, but not his large goofy smile that he usually shone. This was a softer, more reassuring smile.  
  
"Y-you do?" She asked herself. Looking back up to him, taking a napkin from her jacket pocket and wiping her eyes, trying to wipe the tears away. She was in the presence of a man who had been through a lot on this planet. She didn't even know about the stuff on the other planets he has lived his life on, and yet she was crying, crying over something that may just end up being completely trivial.  
  
"You're thinking, why has this happened?" He said, leaning on the railing of the old bridge. "Why am I such an atrocious creature? Why can I not fit into a place so... normal?" He sighed lightly as she nodded. She knew it, she was a monster. What normal person could turn into bats and drink blood? She may have looked human, but she wasn't, at least in her mind. "You need not worry; the world is filled with people whose powers are different to humans, who think they are... what is that word?"  
  
"Monsters?" She replied, having finally stopped crying.  
  
"Yes. Monsters. But they are not. They are more human than many of the so-called humans who try and... err... undermine their confidence. It's not what they are or what they look like that makes the difference." He poked Sophie high on her chest, where the collarbones met in the middle. "It's, how you humans say, your heart that makes you who you are. You need not conform to the whims of others."

He stood up again and placed his talons on her shoulder once more. She quickly turned and buried her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around his torso, trying to gain comfort in the alien. Not quiet sure how to react, he just rubbed her back softly, somewhat confused by this turn of events.  
  
After a little while they were sat down on the bridge, talking.  
  
"So I'm guessing you want to know what happened?" She started, her knees tucked up to her chest and her fingers fiddling with the laces on her shoe. It was unusual for a woman to wear shoes with laces on, but she liked them and had them made specially. They looked neater.  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"About how I became a flock of bats." She corrected herself.  
  
"Ah, yes please." He replied, nodding towards her.  
  
"Well a little while ago, I was asked to do a strange job by the police department." She shrugged and laughed lightly. "I sometimes wish I hadn't taken the job now, but it was work."

Walking down memory lane and crossing the boarder into flashback country, no passport required, she went back into her past to explain her unique gift.  
  
"Good afternoon Ms Mathews." A police officer addressed her as she led them through to the mortuary, finally coming to the body of another victim of the crime in this city, or another city, it depended. From the smell she could tell that he had been floating in the river, maybe for some time.  
  
"Afternoon officer." She moved around the top end of the table. "What do you require me for today?"  
  
"We need you to examine a body." He stated plainly. She shook her head.  
  
"I'm an Undertaker; I'm not a fully trained Pathologist." She smiled. The older gent shrugged and returned the smile.  
  
"Our Pathologist is blind drunk again and was fired, alongside his entire staff. The body is still full of blood and water; we need you to sort it out. Besides, we are paying for part time pathology lessons."

She sighed inwardly, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. They made it sound as if she was going back to college to get an English degree. But it was true, although she was an undertaker; she still needed a medical degree in dealing with the dead in order to do more than just stuff corpses for a living. She didn't mind it actually, but in the back of her mind she wanted to be a little like those crime fighting super sleuths who had a look at the dead and jumped right into the thick of a mystery. Life as CSI showed it. She did have an advantage to most people as she had a sense about dead people; it just seemed to come naturally. Coincidentally, she now has that pathology degree, however in this time frame she didn't.  
  
"So, why can't you put him on ice?" She pondered.  
  
"Well he does have more then the average amount of blood in him." He simply replied, reaching up for the cloth that covered the cadaver.  
  
"What is he officer? A vampire? If you have a point please make it! I have a lot of people waiting, including an order for the Teen Titans that has to be done this week." She said calmly. She didn't like giving orders, however sometimes she just needed to make her soft voice heard. Unfortunately, the order for the Titans was the remains of poor Latrisha Dryce, Cyborg's girlfriend. She remembered looking at the body and clenching her fists so hard she caused her hand to bleed. It was absolutely disgusting how someone could do such a thing to another person. Although she was cold towards the fact she was dead, she was a fire inside about how and why she died. It hurt her to the core so much that she would be attacked, tortured, murdered, because she had a different coloured skin. So angry with what another person did, she told the parents not to worry about the cost. Having to pay for a relative's death was painful and expensive, but having to pay for your own daughter's funeral after she had been 'sacrificed' to preserve racial purity and lure Cyborg into a trap was perverse and she refused to do it. She also tried to give them the best things she could offer, however they refused at first. "I hope those bastards get what they deserve." She hated to think of herself as a white woman at that point in time. Everything was so messed up with the world. Why did one girl who was the same age as her have to die because a group of racists came to Jump City to try and convert people. She had been physically sick that night, not because of the damage, but because of the thought of it all.

She had seen many atrocities in her short lifespan. People dying because of drugs overdose, strange murders and suicides, but this had to be the highest on the sick scale. The worrying thing is that in their minds they were convinced that they were doing the right thing. What they needed to do to survive in an age where it was okay to pick your friends because of who they are, not what they look like.  
  
"Well to answer your question bluntly... Yes." The officer pulled back the sheet to revel the body of the deceased. To put it plainly he looked human like, but his entire body was covered in a light fur in the colour of dark brown. A few other things that struck the young woman were that his ears were larger and came to a rounded point. The last thing to be noticed was there was a light piece of skin between the torso and the arms. In other words, wings. Sophie just raised a brow.  
  
"Okay... I wasn't expecting that."  
  
"You probably haven't heard of Professor Kirk Langstrom. He was an expert in nocturnal mammals in Gotham City. He tried to create a serum to try and give deaf people sonar, like a bat's, however something went wrong when he tested it on himself and he mutated, literally becoming a man-like bat. Ironically, he was dealt with by Batman and cured...however some of the serum managed to get into the hands of others. We have found out that this man, who was a local scientist, was infected with a weak form of the chemical. He started to transform...however, to change this effect, he tried to change the nature of the chemical itself because he didn't know how to destroy it. It stopped the mutation, but his DNA didn't reverse itself. We think he was driven to suicide."

"Think?"  
  
"Hey, we're cops, not geniuses. If we were, would we be in this profession?" He simply replied.  
  
"Maybe." She simply stated, and removed her over jacket, leaving her in her white shirt and waistcoat. She quickly got to work and started to drain out the blood. While this long process was going on, Sophie worked on the other projects to try and get them done. She would not only have to work though the bank holidays but through the night to get this all done.

What she hadn't notice while working with this huge backlog of work was that the man-bat that had been brought in had filled the drainage pipe and a partial block of the pipe had meant that the blood had started to overflow, building up and up and over the table, slowly at first, dripping over the edge.

Right into the coffee that sat on the side, each drop mixing with the black liquid and sinking in through it, becoming indistinguishable and inseparable. Sophie hadn't noticed. She had now been working for 8 hours straight; her last break was at dinner, which wasn't very much anyway. It was roughly a small ham and cheese bake and a doughnut. It wasn't enough to keep a person going all night long. So who could blame her for not being completely aware of her surroundings...as she picked up the mug and took a sip...

She heard a small splat as she finished off a strange tasting gulp, almost like a tap had dripped onto a hard surface. Right in the coffee ring that was left on the desk at the end of the table was a blob of blood. Her eyes bugged out.

And then she didn't know what was happening to her. To start with she felt light headed and staggered around, knocking implements and tools off desks. Her breathing became laboured as her stomach started to churn, sending painful surges though her system, her fingers feeling numb and her arms feeling overly sensitive. Her mind was a jumble, she felt like she wanted to throw up but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't. She had just drunk blood, human blood. Perhaps he had Aids, or worse perhaps she had gotten the virus or whatever the officer was talking about. And with a scream, darkness came.  
  
When she awoke she had found herself in the hospital, trying to figure out what was going on. They told her they found her in a park not too far away after she fell from a tree and gave a pair of late night lovers the fright of their lives. She had landed in an almost impossible position that would have done serious damage to a normal person, yet she was not harmed in the areas in which she should have been. Yet...she was hurt in other areas that could not have been affected by the fall.

Not sure herself, she just replied she may have been sleep walking and discharged herself that same day. She took herself home and started to make dinner, however when she was chopping she lost concentration. And no sooner had she done that then she looked down to find she had the knife in line with her wrist...but how?

Her hand and wrist had turned into bats and were floating there.

With a small shriek she had yanked back, and as soon as she removed the knife her arm brought itself back together, forming one whole human arm.

For a moment or two she tried to piece together the puzzle of what had actually happened to her. Things, strange things started to play across her mind like a late night B movie. She didn't like what she was seeing and her body, not sure how to take it any other way, blacked out.  
  
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"Luckily I woke up in my kitchen, but after that I just kept experimenting. I found out that I could control all the bats as if they where extra limbs. I would just think to grab something with a right group of bats and I would do so, or I would fly in that direction with all of me. Things sort of became instinctual."  
  
"Can you can control your bats?" Nigel asked, looking over slightly amused at the tale in which she had just fed him.  
  
"Partly. Controlling a whole swarm of bats is alright, and controlling several little groups is hard but doable, but controlling just one bat? No, I have trouble with that."

The hero paused and looked at her.

"Well think of it this way, it's an all or nothing situation. I am either a group of bats, or I'm a human, there is very little in-between. Controlling one bat requires a lot of concentration, as not only do I have to guide that one bat around, I have to keep my body human which means I have to try and tell the rest of my body not to do anything. This tires me out." She shrugged and pulled her coat closer towards herself.  
  
"Would you allow me to help train you?" He asked lightly. She smiled and shook her head.  
  
"No, I don't think many people could help me. It's sometimes uncontrollable and I don't want a hero like you or the others of your group on the receiving end if something goes wrong." He scoffed slightly. "What's funny?"  
  
"My apologies, While I was part of the Titans I heard of a girl who had trouble with her powers. I just wondered how that was any different from this. My answer was that she let us train her. From what I heard, she left the Titans after using all of her power in a controlled form."

Sophie's mind boggled slightly. Someone using their powers so much that they lost them?! Incredible. She had considered this option herself, however when she tried to do so, she just collapsed out of exhaustion. Obviously her powers were the type that if she used them too much she would and could kill herself before she lost them.  
  
"What did she do? Kill a god?" She asked, her face in slight shock.  
  
"I am not sure how she did it, but she moved the Earth itself."

If we were using sound effects, that would have been the perfect time for the 'smashing a light bulb with a hammer' sound as her eyes bugged out a little at the sheer power. Power? Or was it determination?  
  
"Whoa..." Her mind had to recover from that a little before what she had done re-entered her thinking process. Able to build up a 3D picture in her mind from all the camera angles, she remembered that they had left her brother and his goons to do just what they wanted. She reached into her waistcoat pocket and pulled out a little gold pocket watch, a gift to her from her grandfather. "We HAVE to go!" She called grabbing Scalpel's wrist and trying to pull him up.  
  
Let me point out that one of the reasons Blacktrinians are so strong is because they have to lug around their own body weight all day. Sophie, being a slightly unfit undertaker from earth, had no chance in hell of lifting the man, but he humoured her and got up quickly, following her back to the area of destruction.  
  
Unfortunately it was all for naught. Something else she remembered was what he said. At the time, she had paid no attention to it as the giant grunt of a henchman had her in one of his huge hands, groping her with his eyes, but now she had a chance to think it over. He said PM. 12 PM was NOON not MIDNIGHT as he had said it to be! And it was 11:58 AM.

She ran, giving everything she had, digging deep into her centre to try and find the energy to save her business, her grandfather's legacy, his life's work.  
  
Her life.

She got back to her home to see Tony, standing there holding a piece of paper and a folder of documents. He handed it over to a small, balding man. Scalpel jumped for the sheet; however the useless gun that never seemed to hit its target made contact. Though not with a bullet, it was just thrown by a henchman. It worked, however, as Scalpel fell out of the air like a ton of bricks. The balding man replaced the document with a set of keys. Sophie mustered the energy to dash down and reach for them, but in his condescending mannerism in which he conducted himself, just as she got within a few steps, Tony quickly sidestepped and stuck out his foot, making her land face first onto the ground below. The strange man shook his head quietly, and wandered off into the distance.  
  
"Ooh, so close yet so very, very, very far away." He shook the keys lightly and wandered away. "I'll send your things to our parent's houses. I hope you don't mind." He laughed as he made it inside and locked the door. Scalpel jumped up onto his feet, drawing his glaive from the jacket in which he had placed over his shoulders. A slight gust of wind captured said jacket and blew it off his shoulders and onto the hard, wet concrete. He pressed a button and his glaive started to extend in his bandaged hand. He started to growl as his whole position drew back to leap at the closed oak door.  
  
"Wait." A soft, defeated voice came from behind him. Turning, he saw her soft brown hair had fallen over her face, each strand clinging there, attached to her because of the tears that rolled down her soft cheeks, past her blood red lips and under her chin, where they dripped onto the hair. She pushed herself up to a kneeling posture and brushed the hair back. "He's won. I hope he's happy." She stood up and turned away, walking slowly as she tried to stop her tears. The Blacktrinian just followed her, walking away from one of the most important things in her life. They didn't try and break in, they didn't try and steal the keys, and they didn't try anything to get her home back.  
  
Because it was against the law, and they were better than her brother who did anything he could to get what he wanted. No matter how much she may have wanted to, she would never go down to his level. For a little while, the pair just sat on the edge of the street, watching the world go by, trying to figure out what they where going to do next. Sophie had nothing left, and now neither did Nigel. Things seemed to be falling apart... again.  
  
"I am sorry that I could not help you." He stated lightly, his eyes cast downwards at the road they were sat upon. He used his glaive as a rest, leaning against it as a person with a walking stick might, keeping him upright. Sophie didn't reply for a moment or two.  
  
"You did your best." She finished wiping the tears from her eyes, making sure to get her hair out of her face. "I should never have brought you into this anyway. It was unfair of me to put you though that."  
  
"You didn't bring me into anything. I opted to help, at my own risk if necessary. Unfortunately I seem to have failed in my duties again." The pair couldn't consol each other on the loss. And so they sat there as the rain came, washing away the pain, and the hate, and the failure, as the pair sat there, getting soaked through again with the summer showers, a figure made her way towards them, her cloak fluttering in the wind and the storm, her arm in a sling. Scalpel first saw the purple boots and then traced upwards to a familiar face, her hood up because of the present company that was Sophie. Nigel didn't say anything. He just looked back down at the ground. Sophie too, looked up, but mimicked the alien and looked away. Neither was in the mood for talking.  
  
Raven didn't say anything; she just pulled her cloak around her and sat down next to them. For a moment or two, things where quiet amongst the trio. People walked past and questioned why they were there. Children stared a little before mothers dragged them away, everything stayed still for a moment in time.  
  
"I was talking with Savior." Raven started, looking up at Titan Tower. Her rich eyes stared softly at the tall, imposing building. Her eyes were joined in the gaze by a pair of soft hazel eyes and a pair of demon's eyes.  
  
"What did he say?" Nigel spoke, not caring about who said what, or who did what. But he was curious why Raven had come here. Had she, too, been thrown out of the Tower for making a mistake? Perhaps Robin thought she was useless with her bad arm and cut her off as a dead weight.  
  
"He... has given Robin some time to think. He would like you back on the team."

The news sunk in, oh hell it did. On the inside Nigel was a storm of thoughts. Should he? Could he? Would the others allow it? On the outside, he acted as if it hadn't affected him at all.  
  
"Oh." He replied just as calmly and emotionlessly as Raven while he lightly dragged his claw against the concrete. Another break in conversation occurred as he thought it over. "Very well. If he wishes my return, so be it." He nodded, somewhat solemnly. She just nodded and stood again. "However..." She turned, somewhat concerned that he might ask for something outrageous and something she could not understand in why he requested it. "Sophie here needs a place to stay, and seeing as she let me stay at hers I feel that she should be allowed to stay with me." The goth just nodded and walked away, fading away into nothingness. A little trick she learned to make a scene a little more... dramatic.  
  
'Finally', he thought, 'I am going home.'  
  
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Jedi: Gah, sorry for that... That took a while because I was moving into Southampton Uni at the time! Again, real sorry! See you in chapter 18!


	18. Humanity: Humanity Wrecker

Flashing Lights and Sounds

By Jedi-and

Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide but I DO own my own characters.

Authors note: I will post this notice again just in case you didn't read it last time! I have adjusted Scalpel's age from 16, 17 this year to the age of 17, 18 this year. In English he is one year older now, just because I preferred that age bracket for him. Hey, I'm an author, I can work on whims if I so desire.

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Chapter 18: Humanity Wrecker.

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Now, just as we jumped from the Titans to Nigel in the previous chapters, we shall jump once more from Nigel to the Titans as they attempt, with whatever degree of success, which is usually little or no, to get ready for whatever dinner engagement they had planned. Using a well-known camera angle, we pan through the Titans' tower, and look in on each one, in deep anticipation on what they were or were not going to do that evening.

The first vi... I mean person on our tour is a man, a tall broad man, mostly made up of metal.

"I already told you Gar, we are not seeing Gore Mutants Part VIII again." He said in a slightly forceful tone. "It was bad enough the first time."

"Come on! That bit with the huge monster tentacle on the edge of the boat rocked! Where they tried to run from it but the boat overturned and the monster thing ate them all! I have never been so freaked!"

Just so you know, Gore Mutants part VIII was the latest horror flick out. To the average horror newcomer, it was pretty scary. However, more seasoned horror fans, much like the lads here, had mixed opinions. It tried to combine the suspense horror of most "large-animal-is-mad-at-us" thrillers with the blood and guts filled fun of most slasher movies. Unfortunately, it only made Cyborg bored, as the kill count was more preposterous than Battle Royal 2: Requiem in which over three fourths of the cast had been killed within literally the first fifteen minutes. In the first Battle Royale, the people lasted for at least half an hour.

Beast Boy, on the other hand, found it a wonderful movie, good fun and realistic. Victor tried to point out that it had the worst costume and make up design since pantomime and the Jack Frost movies, but he wouldn't have any of it.

"Well, if we're not going to watch Gore Mutants, what ARE we going to watch?"

"Anything but a chick-flick is okay by me."

The third spoke to this particular wheel, er, spoke up: it happened to be Robert 'Back By Popular Demand' Candide. Rob also had mixed feelings about the movie, but he would rather see anything than nothing at all. He remembered the time where he and his fellows had argued so much and for so long that they couldn't buy any tickets to anything anyway as they had missed the last showing of all the films. On the other hand, that had allowed them to see some of the truly BIZARRE stuff that came on some of their obscure cable channels late at night…

As the arguments continued, we move away from the gents and up to the bedroom part of Titans Tower, coming across Noel and Raven, getting ready to go out.

"I was never one for clothing knowledge." Raven stated, looking through her somewhat small collection of items in order to find the one she needed. She had a couple of nice dresses for very formal occasions, in comparison to Starfire, who had a whole walk in wardrobe full of dresses, gowns and matching scarves. Hell, she had a FEW walk in wardrobes, one for each occasion: summer, winter, action and formal. No wonder her shopping bill was almost doubled most of the Titans.

Most men think that women take too long to get dressed. It's not the getting dressed that does this; it's the deciding on what she is going to wear that takes the longest amount of time. Noel, the white-clothed Titan, was already done with his clothing ritual. What he wore wasn't really important; he was too preoccupied watching his other half get dressed. Well not watching. When a person helps a young woman get ready, it isn't a spectator sport. You have to participate when required. Don't get me wrong however, some guys I know spend just as long doing their hair as women. Noel remembered that Gar once asked him five times in a night if he thought his hair looked good or not. Each time the answer was yes, until the last one where he replied no. He was then bombarded with a string of questions on why and how Gar's hair had changed since the last time, which was exactly in no way at all. He didn't quite understand why everyone brought his or her problems to him, maybe it was because he seemed level headed and wise, or maybe he is the only one who wouldn't do or say anything too harsh about it. Or too stupid, like Rob's solutions.

"You'll look good in anything." He simply replied, stretching out across the bed in which he was relaxing upon. She raised a brow and continued to browse.

"I'm not so sure."

Noel laughed, though there was the slight undertone of a groan, and stretched again.

"Rave on McDuff, Rave on." He quoted. Raven poked her tongue out lightly in an almost comical style and continued to look.

And Noel proved to not have much patience for the whole thing, as after five minutes Noel got up, walked over casually and grabbed a random dress. It was a soft blue with a halter-top front and light gold trimming around the edges. Enough to be seen, but not so much as to make it look tacky. The dress was long and had a split up the side going up and stopping just before the hips.

"Here, take this one, and just so you know I don't think it makes your bum look big." He said, this time being the one who slyly poked his tongue at her before she snatched it away and walked behind a separating panel. This was one thing, despite not making much sense, Noel understood. Even though they have seen each other... how shall we say, privately before and while in this state shared certain intimacies, she still had her dignity to uphold and therefore Noel could understand why it was important to have a separating screen in the way while she changed.

"It's been a while since I tried this one on..." Raven thought out loud.. 

"Hon, you haven't put on an ounce since the last physical..." Noel replied, as he folded his arms and sat on the edge of their bed, looking in the other direction.

"True." She fastened the clip on the back of the neck and made sure everything was okay before adorning the rest of the attire. She breathed in, just in case, and carried on. There was a brief silence before he spoke again.

"So who was this woman Nigel was with? You gave your report and then you bolted for the shower." He commented to try and break the silence as she changed and he got bored again.

"I knew that Beast Boy was going for the shower next, and I dislike having showers after him." She replied softly and matter-of-factly.

"Though it's better than after Nigel. Most of the time it's blood in there. Or the time Cyborg used one of the normal showers due to the fact that his special personal one was on the fritz. Ugh, oil and a lot of static shocks. Bad all around."

"I suppose." Raven fluffed her hair a little to make sure it was okay. She pondered if she should try it up, and then she dismissed such ideas and thinking. She was starting to turn into Tara.

"The woman." Noel reminded her.

"Ah yes, the woman was a local undertaker. From what I gathered from our short encounter, she took in Nigel for a night or so, but then she somehow lost her home."

"An undertaker? Undertaker…." Noel said he got up, walking around a bit to try and job his synapses. He did this for a few seconds, then he paused and his memory kicked in.

"Was it the short plump one that did Latrisha's funeral?" He questioned, looking back over at the screen to see if Raven was ready, leaning on one hand and trying to peek around.

"Yes, her. I didn't think she was that bad." Raven said as she looked around the scene's edge and shooed Noel back in order to finish so they could catch their reservation. "But yes, her. I could sense she had a lot of kindness despite her sad outer appearance, I could tell that she was pleased that Nigel was with her."

Noel nodded along in the way of the impatient as glanced at his watch.

"I'll be done in a minute."

He looked up, slightly confused.

"Oh yes, I forgot to tell you..." Raven said as she came out from behind the screen and showed off the dress.

"See? I told you you'd look beautiful." Noel said. She blushed slightly and looked away before she got back on topic.

"Scalpel made a condition for his return."

This shocked Noel, and then his eyes both looked to the extreme left as they reacted to his brain, as he tried to figure out what that condition might be. Nigel wouldn't make a condition unless it was beneficial to someone in some way, and it wasn't going to be for his benefit then who... then it struck him.

"The Undertaker isn't coming to stay is she?" He asked, rather deadpan, his face a perfect picture of being unimpressed.

"She knows a recipe for a very nice Spanish omelette." Raven laughed as Noel slapped his forehead. That was the last thing he needed. Three Titans were off, with one returning some when, and the other returning who knew when, if he returned at all (indeed, Savior had heard through the grapevine that Tim had returned to Gotham, and then his father had found out he was Robin and Tim had actually resigned from the role to appease his father's worry that he would be hurt. Batman had picked out a new Robin, a young woman named Stephanie Brown who had been a Gotham vigilante called Spoiler, but apparently she hadn't been able to cut the mustard and Batman had cut her loose. Almost immediately afterward though, some kind of gigantic mess had erupted in Gotham as something sparked off a GIGANTIC gang war, and Tim had returned to the Robin identity to help with the problem. Not to mention there was another big brouhaha brewing in the superhero community: recently Sue Dibny, the wife of Ralph Dibny, aka the Elongated Man, had been murdered, and though the Titans hadn't gotten any details, some nasty rumours had come their way on what was going on, and how it may or may not involve some VERY nasty skeletons in people's closets. Well, the problem seemed to focus on the adult superheroes, hopefully it wouldn't touch his team…) and now a civilian in his home. What next? An ant infestation? Leaking pipes? Zombies? Movies come alive? Losing their powers at the worst possible time? (And yes that was a shameless, shameless plug of Legend Maker's Halloween fic Boogeymen, bad Jedi.)

"Are you trying to kill me with stress?"

"Maybe."

"Why are you my girlfriend again?"

"Because I'm the only one who actually understands your warped and dark little mind, mortal." She patronized, patting his head and playing with his hair. He just took her hand and marched out the door, dragging her behind him. They would have to make double time if they wanted to make their reservation.

The pair marched right past Terra, who was listening to some very loud headphones and bopping her head to the beat of power rock ballads. She took off her headphones as Savior started to speak to her.

"What?"

"Nigel will be coming home soon! Make sure you don't lock him out." He shouted again.

"What does he look like?" She replied. She still had not seen any photos of the young man, as his file had been removed from the computer and any other photos had either been torn up or hidden in the hopes of avoiding being torn up and then subsequently forgotten or lost.

"You'll know him..." Noel replied succinctly before closing the door and heading down to the carpool.

"Bad choice of dress Rae, makes your butt look big..." Terra laughed as she placed her headphones back upon her blonde head and bopped her way towards the kitchen. She couldn't hear the 'Damn you Tara Markov!!!!!!!' shouted very loudly from Noel several floors down as Raven started to wonder if she should go get changed or not. She doesn't need to be in the same room to sense things after all. Hell if she pushed herself she probably could read minds in another area code!

But that's another story.

Soon enough, the lads passed her as she re-emerged from the kitchen, carrying a glass of milk and a handful of cookies. She would have liked more of those cookies for herself, but unfortunately the boys, Victor and Gar, had grabbed them earlier and blamed it on Rob.

"So you don't want to come with us then?" Rob asked.

"Nah, I just need a quiet night in, that's all." She replied, nodding. "But thanks for the offer. Oh and bring back some cookies!" She said as she lightly hit them on the head with her magazine that she had recovered from said kitchen. It seems she was reading it at breakfast this morning and forgot to take it with her. From personal experience I tend to find that anything I read while eating breakfast inevitably ends up having a random Co-Co pop splattered across the page with a trail of milk following it as if it was trying to escape. Luckily Terra was more awake in the mornings than most people and so her magazine didn't sustain collateral damage. Mostly.

"Alright your loss. We're on the other end of the Titan com if you need us." Vic said as he waved goodnight, as he and his fellows left, leaving Terra the sole remaining Titan inside the tower at that time.

The place to herself... What was she going to do first?

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Well, whatever she was going to do, she wasn't expecting the return of their doctor. He made his way up to the door of his former home and paused.

"Like returning home?" His associate asked. Sophie was standing there smiling, one hand on his shoulder while the other carried a cloth bag that had all the things she could salvage from her home. Her brother had indeed started to move out everything to their parents' house in an attempt to draw her home. However, their parents were away that day on a business trip or late rehearsals, so Sophie snuck home, grabbed as much stuff as she could, and snuck back out, telling their butler not to say a thing to the master of the house.

She hadn't gotten much: just a few shirts, a few jackets, just clothes stuff really. All her other stuff she could either replace or sneak home to get later. The bag was an older one; however it suited her because it looked like it was made out of funeral material.

"More like returning to a place I'm not sure I'm welcome." He replied, placing his clawed hand on the scanner. It scanned him and bleeped open. Either they still had his handprint in the computer or they still haven't fixed the problem that anyone with a handprint could get in. If they hadn't fixed that problem, Noel would go insane.

As they made their way inside slowly he flicked the switch into the dim lit hallway. The light flickered on... then blew.

"_Ecalk_." He said to himself in his native tongue before continuing on in all the same with Sophie following slowly behind him, each step a cautious one. The computer flicked on its night vision to try and capture the ghoul who had just appeared inside the tower.

Apparently, it didn't recognize this ghoul as ITS ghoul, as the alarms sounded loudly as the auto defences prepped themselves. Obviously, he wasn't a part of the system's "okays". Noel was going to have a field day with whoever had supposedly fixed the system. 

"Eep!" Sophie called as she ducked for cover.

"Security override: Scalpel – 332!" He shouted, in hopes it would work.

It, of course, didn't.

The computer let rip with all manners of machine guns, lasers, ninja stars and anything else that could act as a projectile weapon. Nigel ducked and dived, trying to think of another plan. If he couldn't get a security override it meant he was wiped from the main computer, however he may still be on the medical computer.

"Medical Override: Scalpel 192!"

Surprise surprise, it worked: The whole system shut itself down and the weapons folded away back into the wall. He sighed in relief. Walking over to what was now a little worried Sophie, he leaned on the chair she was hiding under and smiled.

"You can stop your hiding activity now." He stated, leaning a little more to see her better.

"Are you sure?" She asked, poking her head out lightly and looking around a little.

While he spent the next few minutes trying to convince her that she was going to be okay, Terra on the other had had a much different feeling.

As she was the only one in the tower, she decided to take it easy and relax, sprawled across the sofa while listening to her music, snacking and reading. Multitasking. In a semantic way anyway

She had lifted a cookie when she noticed that the main screen was flashing red with the words 'Intruder' all over it. Her pupils dilated and she dropped the cookie, even though her hand stayed were it was, floating effortlessly in front of her mouth. She, as mentioned, had heard about the events brewing around Sue Dibny's murder, and one of the rumours was that some villain had gotten his hands on information he should NOT have and was stalking superheroes in their homes…

She dashed up to the computer, each thought in her head suddenly focussed towards trying to figure out the problem. Pressing all the buttons she could on the keypad, she found the right one which gave a vid-link.

There was unfortunately no sound, because if she had sound she would have heard Nigel ask if Sophie was okay, but there wasn't, so all she saw was some form of monster walk towards an unsuspecting victim. The little girl in Terra kicked in, looking around for something, anything to hide behind. Her first official Titan mission with Aberration hadn't exactly left her with a good mindset towards things that did not look human.

Then the Titan in her kicked in. She ran out of the room to try and see if she could help the lady in the video before it was too late. She didn't even think of using her communicator.

As she got down to the greeting hall, she noted it was dim-lit and more eerie than she liked in a situation. Just one of the things against her: she was facing an unknown attacker who may or may not have killed the woman in the video capture and she was on her own in the tower.

She caught a glimpse of the creature that had been in the video. However, she didn't make any noise like her instincts told her to, no, she just reeled back behind a wall and opened up her communicator.

Nigel's head twitched around slightly as his ears perked up. He had heard the communicator. Like most mechanical things, there was a slight snapping noise when it opened, and he had caught it.

"What's wrong?" Sophie asked as he started to stand, trying to pinpoint the minute click that the com-links give off. He closed his eyes and listened for a moment or two.

Breathing. Short, sharp breathes. It was a young woman, the variations in the air and the fact the breathing seemed higher pitched indicated as such. He then heard a few bleeps and his head snapped around to exactly where Terra was. He knew her general location, but those last few bleeps pinpointed her completely and eliminated any possibility that it was an echo of an empty room.

"Stay here." He told Sophie, as she found that in her fear she'd squeezed herself under a chair that was really too small for her and was now struggling to untangle herself from. Nigel slowly walked in Terra's direction, each clawed step cushioned by the soft carpet that the Titans had placed in their hallway. It would have made more sense to have something that was easily washable so they would wash away any muck and grime, however they thought ahead and made the carpet red just in case something was to happen. You know exactly what I mean. They had been attacked in their greeting hall before you know. 

Silence.

For a moment nothing seemed to happen, as if the silence was effecting time. And then Terra felt it. A breath on her neck.

Spinning to see, she stumbled backwards, her eyes filling with fear at the creature that was behind her. Some form of monster that managed to creep through the shadows at her. If she was more rational or in a brighter corridor (damn you Aberration), she might have seen or otherwise noticed the claw marks in the walls and ceilings where he had climbed them to get behind her.

Nigel was going to speak, however this new foe extended her arms outwards and they started to glow a yellowish colour. He raised a brow at them. Did they make projectiles like Starbolts? Was it in order to see him better? Or...

The last option came into play as Terra shook the ground under him, throwing him around a little. The monster started to fall off balance, and this was the time she needed to make a break for it. She dashed past the man/creature/thing/general not one of us and ran up the stairs and towards the living room. If she could activate the security code in time, she might be able to get some extra firepower. But first she has to make it up the stairs alive.

Nigel, on the other hand, could do nothing but watch the assailant run. His balance thrown off, he had to straighten himself out first before he could even see what she had thrown at him by mistake. He couldn't see what it was exactly because of the aforementioned lack of lighting, however he knew something flew.

Sophie knew exactly where it was. She could sense things, where they were in the dark. It isn't sonar, as she couldn't pinpoint everything, but let us call it a useful side effect of her…gift. She slowly crawled over to the thing the female had dropped/thrown in a panic, closing her eyes now and again to try and find it that way.

Her hand brushed against a small object, rounded and about the size of a palm, a perfect circle with an extra bit on the top. She opened her eyes and looked down. She could vaguely make out a T shape on the front and because of the ambient light from the surrounding areas, she could tell it was a warmer colour, probably yellow or orange. She looked over to shout to Scalpel about her find, but before she could even get her mouth in the right shape to make an S sound, she closed her mouth and blinked.

He had wandered off.

Terra reached the lounge in a panic, her breathing heavy as she rushed over to the computer. Each second counted as she started to punch in random keys, trying to find one that unleashed some of the biggest guns in the tower. Nothing worked. Fumbling through the pockets on her belt furiously, she tried to find a code, something. She wished she'd paid attention to when Noel and Tim were laying down the security specifics instead of trying to solve that damn Rubik's cube…

And then she remembered.

'If you need us, we're on the other end of the communicator.'

Of course. Alone she was vulnerable, but with her friends she was part of a well oiled machine that could take care of any monster, as she went to her back pocket to take out her Titan-com.

Her ryes stretched wide as she realized when she had thrown out her hands to disrupt the intruder, she accidentally threw the communicator away. She cursed herself, trying to find something, anything to help her. Then she thought back to her training, or what she had paid attention to. Robin had told her that whenever the Titan's security system was set off, all the Titan communicators went off simultaneously, so all she had to do was press the alert button on the console in front of the giant TV, and she would be saved. But which button was it again?

Scalpel took his time while chasing after her. He had learned that sometimes a foe would try and draw you into a trap by running away, letting people chase after them and then turning around and launching an attack. He didn't want her to pull a surprise like that, so he took it carefully, making each step as cautiously as the last. He also didn't want to set off one of the many traps the Tower had to offer. After the whole business with Myth, oh that seemed like an age ago, each floor had its own sets of traps that could be activated just by pressing one small button UNDER the console in the lounge. And before you ask why it's under, having it on the top was a fool's errand. Noel went crazy at the fact there was such a doom button anyway. One button that controls all the defence systems in the entire tower was just asking for trouble. If someone had known about said button, they could easily use the tower against its owners. Noel had talked about taking it out but Robin seemed adamant that it stayed in.

He wondered where his, now renewed, team-mates were. It was strange that they would leave the tower so undefended. Maybe Tim's departure had affected the judgement of the others. Then again, they were young adults and anything could effect their judgement. Hell, in Rob and Gar's case the right shade of wallpaper could affect their judgement.

Terra scrambled around the control panel. Each button looked dull and lifeless, and she needed to find it.

"It's got to be the red one!" She shouted, searching for colours rather than anything else. This logic was based on that, in most movies, a big red button always controlled any gadgets that caused remarkable damage. Other coloured buttons did other things, however it was always the big red ones for things like defence lasers or self destruct systems. She remembered the rebuilding of Titan Tower and how they decide to change the self-destruct for the tower from a big red button on the control panel to a switch on the main computer. Two keys were needed, plus an access code or optic scan. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) Terra didn't have the clearance to use it. Only the first Five Titans did, everyone else would have to wait a few years, including Noel. She also remembered they reused that red button as Beast Boy had found it in the rubbish. (He wanted a better door button). She had been thinking along this tangent for a while before she realised something. Why would such an important button be placed on top of the consol?

Scalpel had managed to track the girl down to the lounge area; he could still hear breathing as it slowed down, taking each breath more easily, almost relaxed, as it carried the soft words of 'Found you' to Nigel. Unsure of what this meant, he continued on. Maybe she had pulled up a picture of him on the cameras that were stationed throughout the tower, but when he looked over at said camera in this corridor, it was facing the other way and not panning. That didn't seem good. Just to be safe, he pulled his glaive. But if he wasn't caught on the cameras, then what...

His eyes widened at the whole tower almost clicked at once, revealing machine guns, tasers, lasers, phasers, mazers, anything that ended with aser, more weapons than what had been in the giant greeting room, all in this one little corridor. His ears drooped and wondered who the hell designed all this...

"Oops..." Terra said, her mouth wide as lights started to flash and sirens wailed. "I think that may be overkill."

The entire tower started to explode in noise as gun after gun fired. People in Metropolis would have probably heard at least a little noise. Perhaps that is exaggeration, but Jump City definitely heard it!

Terra started to back up from the console as it folded itself up and sank into the floor. This time it was her eyes that went wide as she quickly fell to her knees and tried to claw at the gap in which the controls had descended. This had turned from self-defence into utter madness; she would end up annihilating herself and the guy who came in…

Something burst through the doors behind her, wearing a tatty, and somewhat tacky (in her opinion) red suit. He had grey skin and large pointed ears and claws. He looked behind him and then forward once more, staring straight at her. He shouted something to her but she couldn't respond, she was just looking up in pure fear, her rational mind awash in primal adrenaline. Keeping his back to the door, hoping it won't give way under the constant barrage of sonic cannon fire and heavy wall-mounted machineguns, he started to approach her, taking small steps to start with, and then a little faster. Terra started to panic again as she tried to press the access codes on another, still there terminal to get back into the console. All she got were continual bleeps in that patronizing denial tone. Then she realized her personal space had been breached, as she jumped back a little from where Nigel was standing next to her. She hadn't heard his last few steps, he had seemed to appear out of thin air. Fortunately for her, aid came in the form of a new piece of defence. Down from the roof came a Proton cannon, the one taken from the original T-Car. It had been strapped to the roof to use in case anything went wrong, as it aquired a lock on the threat.

Scalpel cursed, and as he yelled loudly as pain shot through his body. What made it doubly worse is that not only had he been blasted backwards by the cannon, he was also thrown out the window (dammit, that was Noel's shtick…). Shards of glass continued to rip his already tattered clothing, his suit now a mess of scraps and shreds that hung from his frame. After a moment or two in pain, floating effortlessly in agony, he landed.

Hard.

And proceeded to curse at the blonde girl in his native tongue. It seems he learned quite a few profanities while being in the military, but then again an entire sentence could be a word long swear in comparison to our language.

Terra looked down upon him as he started to stand up. Unsure what else to do, she fired off a tidal wave of mud and dirt, in the vain hopes that it might actually keep him down, or at least knock him down. Unable to do anything else, Scalpel ran, and ran. He didn't have enough time to grab his Halberd-like weapon, which had been thrown away and landed in the ground. Terra jumped down, freefalling until she landed onto her trademark generic rock that she liked to fly on and followed the wave, controlling it and manoeuvring him towards the obstacle course, hoping that that might slow him down. She was so deep in concentration that she didn't notice a loud group of squeaks and shrieks behind her.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Sophie said as she materialized behind Terra and grabbed hold of her shoulder. She had flown up to the roof top in the hopes that she'd be okay, but when she saw Scalpel blown out of the window and a blonde lady following she was able to recognize both of them. Having lived in Jump City for a good while, she knew all of the Titans, and she could recognize Terra from a way away just because she was the only blonde haired rock-rider in the city. The undertaker put two and two together and deduced they didn't recognize each other as Titans.

Regrettably, even Terra had a battle state of mind and quickly whipped her around and yanked Sophie's arm behind her, putting pressure on her shoulder.

"Who the hell are you?!" Terra shouted. Sophie, after being man handled by the brute who worked for her brother, decided that if she was going to be here she needed to step up and actually carry some form of weapon with her. Nothing lethal and no way as harsh as Nigel's glaive, but something to defend herself with, like the tazer she pulled from her jacket. She had never been the most battle ready person; she would be completely useless in a real battle situation and she didn't know how to even use the tazer, but maybe just the sight of it charging up would be enough to scare Terra into letting go, then Sophie could get the hell out of there without too much damage. She obviously hadn't been thinking of trying to talk to Terra so she just wanted to get out of there, with the hope that her powers would work one more time.

Terra did indeed let go because of the self defence tool, and doing what came first in her panic-stricken mind, she spun the young undertaker to push her off the rock as she was swooping down low. What she hadn't counted on was that the Undertaker shot forward with her free hand and grabbed Terra's arm while being pushed.

Let me do the maths for you. Sophie has a rounder figure, she stands roughly five foot three inches in height and weighed roughly one hundred and fifty pounds, give or take ten to twenty pounds. Terra stood in at five foot one inches (we assume) and weighed roughly seventy five pounds in weight. This meant that Sophie was taller, and heavier than the near anorexic Terra and hence, Terra was yanked with her when Sophie fell off the rock. Sophie landed flat on her back when she hit the ground, but Terra rolled a little before finally coming to stop, flat on her face.

"Ow!" Sophie said, as she sat up and started to rub her lower back, each part of it aching slightly, as she tried standing all, hunched over in pain. Placing both of her gloved hands on her lower back, she stretched out, trying to put her spine back into place. A loud crunch happened, as she gave off a small, almost comical tear with an expression that looked like a smile gone wrong with pain. It could only be described as 'Yes it hurt as much as it sounded'.

"Did that hurt?" Nigel asked, wandering over, trying to shake the cobwebs out of his head after being slammed into one of those large metallic doors they had on the course by a mud wave.

"Yeah, it did rather." She said, still hurting and a little hunched over. He smiled softly and had one brow raised before he finished wandering over behind her.

"Let me take a look at…"

Scalpel was cut off from his sentence as his peripheral vision picked up something large and dirt coloured.

"DOWN!" He yelled as he pushed her to the floor and dove out the way, finally picking up his fallen glaive as he continued to roll before dashing behind Terra, her head snapping round to follow him but her feet unable to keep up with the movement, causing her to fall. With his glaive extended he jumped up, his features dark and his glaive pointed down at her, perfectly lined up and deadly quick, just like when he locked onto Starfire when he first met the Titans.

And just like then, Scalpel was blasted out of the air by a sonic cannon shot and pushed out into the water. Sophie's eyes went wide as she ran towards the bay to help, but a rocky hand shot from the floor and around her, tripping her and catching her, holding her above the island. She struggled against it but it was of no use as it had her tight. Terra laughed a bit, in the way of a person who is satisfied with what they had done, and jot much appreciating the woman for what she had done, she started to squeeze down upon her…until white ropes came from a black portal in the ground and dragged her away with a yelp. The rock hand stayed there, however the pressure was no longer hurting her. Terra appeared on the other side of the portal nearby and right into the very angry faces of Raven, who still had a glass of red wine in her fingers, and Savior, who was still eating some of the complimentary bread rolls.

"H-hey guys." Terra laughed sheepishly, upside down and watching the others pour back to the island. Behind her was another flash of activity as Beast Boy shot out to sea and retrieved Scalpel before he drowned, as the alien shouted and thrashed around. Nigel was dropped next to the young couple, wet and mad as his medium length blue hair now flopped down over his eyes and his claws dripped. Raven quickly threw up a shield as he shook himself dry, almost like a dog would. Everyone, save Raven and Noel, became the victim of said drying.

"We came back when all hell broke loose." Cyborg stated, his cannon turning back into his arm, looking unimpressed. He wasn't happy: they had gotten to a really good part in the film when their communicators went off, and had booed out of the movie.

"Thanks guys, now we can bust this freak an'..." Terra started, struggling to get out of the Shimmer trap. There was a pause, as the strands didn't seem to loosen. It wasn't like it was done by accident, it almost seemed the strands didn't want to move, let alone let Terra go.

"What are you talking about?" Savior asked as he finished his bread. He looked around and noticed the devastation that was wrought by their little scuffle and thanked god that they were both on the same side, as facing either of them in a fight might be a problem. They looked around for a moment or two before seeing the state of Nigel's clothing.

"Oh." He simply stated, doing his own quick mental math. "Well obviously something has gone amiss here. Terra, I would like you to meet the newest addition to our team, Scalpel." He said, gesturing towards the wet young man, who parted his hair with his claws before trying to brush it back to get it out of his eyes, grinning his own sheepish smile. 

"THAT'S Scalpel?!" She yelled, as she was finally let go from her Shimmer prison. She walked towards him, taking each step a little cautiously in case he lashed out. "Can we trust him?" She asked Cyborg, completely ignoring tact and the fact the alien was right in front of him.

"I wasn't the person who initiated the first assault." He stated, folding his arms. This, alas made his hair flop over his eyes again.

"We can trust him." Cyborg replied. There was a pause. Terra slowly reached out with one hand, shakily at first. Scalpel took it and shook lightly.

"Aww, isn't it beautiful! Now get up there and clean up your mess!" Cyborg finished off, bellowing somewhat, albeit in a fun tone. 

"H-help?" A soft voice came from behind the Titans as they turned to see Sophie, still in the grip of the monstrous earth hand. Terra looked a little shocked and undid the construct, causing the civilian to fall to the ground once again. She coughed slightly before Nigel offered her a hand and she got to her feet, brushing herself off. "Thank-you." She breathed a sigh of relief and straightened herself out.

"So who are you anyway?" Beast Boy asked as she blushed somewhat and replied. The others listened intently; mixed emotions coming across their faces. Could she be trusted? After all, Nigel, bless his cotton socks (if he wore any, which he didn't, socks and clawed feet did not mix well) was naive and hence a little too trusting of others, but this Sophie seemed alright. Still, did this situation come about due to the goodness of her heart? Or was it just that she wanted to get inside Titans Tower?

"Well I don't really know about you staying. What do you guys think?" Beast Boy asked, looking over at his companions. They all shrugged.

"Well..." Savior started; his hand at his chin in thought before a deep voice from behind cut him off. He turned slightly to see Cyborg there, looking quite serious.

"I think she should stay." He simply stated, no ifs, no ands and no buts, just that she should stay. Sophie nodded a thank-you quietly, as the others just seemed to go with it. Without Robin, despite what had been happening over the last few months, they couldn't even make the simplest decisions anymore without trouble. Savior quickly stepped up as the temporary leader, though it wasn't official yet, and he tended to defer to Cyborg as he was one of the original five Titans. Robin's regime may have been harsh, but at least decisions where made and made quickly.

"After a full medical and a decent night sleep, we'll talk more about it in the morning. There is a spare room near the middle of the tower." Savior stated, somewhat exhausted. Raven shrugged and wandered to the tower, her wine now finished. She'd return the glass tomorrow. 

And with that the Titans headed back to the tower, with Sophie in tow.

As a man grinned on a nearby rooftop across the bay, as he watched through a telescope. A row of straight teeth shone through.

"Perfect." 

--------------------------------------

The morning came; the sun arose from its resting place beneath the horizon and sat, waiting for time to catch up with it. The birds were awake on the trees, and in the tower all the Titans all slept in. It was a Sunday after all.

Each Titan sleeps differently, personalities reflected in their slumber. Gar Logan was sprawled sporadically over his bed sheets, while his best friend Victor was asleep at attention, perfectly still and rigid on the Frankenstein meets motor pool-like bed. The couple of Raven and Noel both slept relatively still, Noel's arm over Raven's body as if he was protecting her. Raven slept in an almost a mix of the fetal position and the recovery position, her knees tucked up slightly to her chest with her arms bent so her hands were under the pillow. Tim and Kory's rooms was empty, for understandable reasons. Nigel slept with his hands on his torso, almost looking like he was dead, also quite still (probably tired because of the injuries) while Terra was the opposite in both movement and pride as she was on her front, her face planted into the pillow with her rear in the air, her quilt thrown onto the floor so her bright yellow pyjama's were for all the world to see. If one of the Titans had been around, they probably would have worried she would suffocate.

But their guest, she couldn't sleep, and so on a light and breezy Sunday morning, roughly nine o'clock in the morning, she pottered around. Tidying up, putting things away and basically general… well… pottering. Is that even a word?

The first of the Titans emerged from their dorms to see Sophie, happily wandering around with headphones on. Cyborg had woken up earlier than normal, just because he did. Did you ever get that feeling where you had wanted to sleep in, yet for some unknown reason you just wake up? There is no noise, nor commotion that wakes you, you just wake up and can't, no matter how hard you try, get back to sleep.

"What are you doing?"

Sophie turned with a dust cloth and the CD rack in her hands. Her turn was sharp and fast, as she wasn't sure of who was speaking to her.

"Um..." She looked away somewhat, an ever so slight blush on her features. Not one that a would be lover would have, but one that someone who's been caught in the act might have. A very particular type of embarrassment that meant she could only shrug and look away.

"You don't need to prove your right to be here." Cyborg sat down as she placed the CD rack back in its rightful place and removed the headphones. "You took in Scalpel when he was in a rough spot and we, ever so quickly, are returning the favour." He finished, sipping some coffee that was on the table. "Good brew."

"Thanks." There was a slight pause. Even if we don't realize it, there are always slight pauses. Waiting for an elevator, or a subway train, to finally stop and for those doors to open. There always seems to be a pause, nothing major, just a pause to remind us that it is about time to do something, something that seems to be slightly out of time with the world's metronome.

"So... why did you say I should stay?" Sophie asked. She would usually be shy and quiet around those she didn't know, but Cyborg seemed all right.

"I knew of your character." He simply stated. "A few years ago, you helped a family I knew, I knew very well. You helped with one of the most difficult periods they will ever have to go through, and at no profit what so ever on your end. You know what I'm talking about?"

She nodded.

"So I looked you up, I looked at some of your history. I couldn't live with it if you doing such a thing for favours or blackmail. I had to know. I found out more about you. You worked for all sorts of people, charity work most of the time. Children's charities, Soup kitchens, even blood donating." The man/machine let out a breath. "Your record has just been one long bout of kindness. I felt bad, looking through the records, looking for something that would prove to me that you did it for something, some hidden agenda but... nothing. I even asked some of the people you worked with. They said you never wanted anything, you just did it. An all round good Samaritan. For the longest time I wouldn't believe it but after you took in Nigel I started to have doubts and reliefs. On the one hand you took him in because he was cold, on the other hand you could have taken him in because you needed help scaring your brother."

Sophie sighed lightly, her hand clenched lightly upon the table.

"I didn't want him to help me. I just wanted him to realize that his work wasn't in vain." She stated softly. "I've seen how hard he worked, in the papers, on the news. They were always complaining that the Titans had destroyed something in order to stop a madman, and there you were, fighting hard to stay alive and harder to make sure no one but yourselves got hurt. You were all completely selfless and then I saw him. Injured and out in the cold of night. I couldn't do anything else BUT bring him in." Her hand clenched a little bit tighter. "It isn't right, after all the work he did for us for him to be cast aside like an old shoe. As for the other things, I did them because I'm fed up of the way some people treat other people." She sighed inwardly. "The way my family treat other people."

She took a deep breath before she explained herself.

"As you probably know, my name is Sophie Mathews, and many know that I am part of the Mathews family, owners of a very large and profitable business. Also, a movie star is part of our family, meaning that not only are my family rich, they were filthy rich and loved it." Most people would have said this with a kind of a gloat or at least very smug, but Sophie was neither. She wasn't happy at all. Her whole cheery outer image had dimmed somewhat at the mention of the millions that lined the BATHTUBS at her original, mansion like home. Now I think about it, the Like in that sentence wasn't really needed as it was literally a mansion.

"So when the opportunity came around to donate to charity, I asked them if they would. It was a good cause, people donating money to help children with special needs. I showed them the TV show they had, they had lots of cash but they needed more, so I asked. I was just told not to be stupid. They didn't even want to know about anything else. So when I was old enough I started to work for charities and things to try and make up for what my family refused to do. They were greedy and selfish, and I didn't like that. To them it seemed normal, but I felt differently. I could never be a super hero, I don't have the knowledge or powers, but I knew I could do my little part, ya know?"

"I'm sorry." Cyborg said, lightly. Not only had he been wrong, he had been completely wrong. Sophie had never wanted anything in return. There was no atria motive, and there was no secret plot or ploy. All he had succeeded in doing was insulting a young, honest woman, who only ever wanted to help people. There were so few of those people in the world, to the point where no one is ever given the benefit of the doubt that they are one. He was going to apologize again, but it took him too long to take his large metallic foot out of his mouth as she was getting up to leave.

"I know." She stated solemnly before turning to leave. "It's hard to believe in the world we live in today that someone can be nice."

The only thought in the back of her mind was a simple one, maybe she should stop being nice? Everything she seemed to do, everyone assumed it was for a different purpose, some darker underlying reason. She wasn't a selfish person, she just wanted to help, but even super heroes were judging her. She just shrugged it off, as usual. Whenever she did anything, people rarely greeted her with words such as 'Thank you' or 'You good Samaritan', but more like 'So what ya want?'.

Cyborg had left the room by this point in time, and she was there, as she pressed her hand up against the window. It's gloved surface protected her hand from the early morning chill, as the light fibres spread on the glass, her hand almost seeming to look out onto the city.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed there, pondering lightly.

"Maybe I should just give it up, and follow the rest of my family."

"You just gonna stand there all day?" A voice from behind her sounded. She jerked upwards a little and turned slowly. Terra was standing there, coming towards her. "Have you seen something outside?" 

"No."

"All right then."

"Do you always think you're under attack?" Sophie asked.

"Whatever." Terra replied. She shrugged and made her way from the window. Sophie turned back…and then she caught a glint. Her eyes tried to pinpoint the glint.

"Hey, Terra."

"I'm not listening to your moping." She called back.

"Terra!" 

"Not going to listen."

Sophie growled under her breath and looked at the table. There was a can on it that had been crushed lightly after its contents had been drunk. Picking it up, she threw it.

The can, minus content, hit Terra square on the back of her head. After stumbling forward a little, the thinner girl spun, daggers for eyes. 

"What was THAT for?!" She bellowed, marching back over. She would have rolled up her sleeves, if she had any. 

"Look!" The brunette called, pointing out the window, back to where the glint was first seen.

"Don't change the subject!" Terra yelled back. Knowing that she wasn't really going to solve this, she used what strength she had and yanked Terra over to the window with a quick yelp. Once again her gloved hand pointed out of the window.

"I don't see..."

There was another glint.

And before anything else could really be said an explosion happened, shocking the two girls a little. Everyone at that point woke up, even the deep sleeping Nigel as he bolted upright and out of his bed, as did most of the tower. Within a few seconds everyone was up in the lounge, uploading all the computerized data on the view screen. What they saw was something that could only be described in one way and one way alone, a shared statement, in several languages

"What the f...".

Upon the screen was something, something absolutely monstrous. The outer body shape was of a huge being, a monstrous creature with what looked like two arms, two legs and two insect like legs marching down the road, each step as thundering as the last. It was at least as tall as a two-story building, and as large in general size as a few oil tankers stacked up, not the small ones, the big huge ones. Each appendage was veins covered, in the way of creatures with immense muscle, each powerful looking as the last.

And at the centre of it all, a teenaged girl with long, beautiful hair, a shimmer blonde, her body moulded into the creature, a gag in her mouth. The skin of her frame had crawled over parts of her body, essentially making her a part of the abomination. Some of the Titans moved back. What ever it was, it wasn't the child any more.

"Ok. This can't mean ANYTHING good. Titans, take it down. Save the girl, IF possible." Savior shouted, quite coldly. It's true that the creature was a person, even if they didn't realize it, but his first priority was for the safety of the people down there, and at this moment, the 'thing' was ripping up a street he particularly liked. It had a café on it that did a really nice coffee. 

"I SAID TITANS, GO!"

The old battle cry did it, as they turned and sprinted out the door. Sophie waited behind as the door shut.

Not five seconds later Raven was back in the room.

"Scalpel may have given you his trust on an open platter; however you will have to earn mine, and we're not leaving you here alone and we're too short on members to leave one behind, so suit up and follow us." Raven said, as she tossed her a mask that had been one of Robin's spares. Robin had had a load of masks made; unfortunately some were in the wrong colours. The one that was thrown to Sophie was a light purple one. It landed by her feet and she picked it up. Putting two and two together, she quickly shook her head violently.

"B-but I'm not a Titan! My powers don't even work right!"

"They are not for you to wear in battle; they are to protect your identity just in case you have to use your powers to run from the scene. The last thing we want is for you to suddenly be attacked on the way back to the tower because someone recognized you. If you are going to live here, your secret identity will have to remain intact."

"Um... You don't have a secret identity." Sophie pointed out, softly, before looking at the mask again. 

"And you don't have powers that work, so if we will stop nit picking..." She turned. "Besides, you're staying on a roof top."

"Then why can't I stay here?"

"Because I said so." Raven turned and glared at the undertaker, who stepped back a little. "You'll find a com-link has been woven into your jacket. This communicator will be removed when you leave Titan Tower. It will allow us to hear what you are saying, and it will allow us to hear you. You will also find a little ear piece so you can hear us, so don't try anything or we WILL know."

"Why do I feel like a criminal?" 

"Because until we know otherwise, you and any other civilian who enter these premises are classed as potential criminals. So you would do well to remember your guest manners Miss Mathews." 

And so they left, all of them.

But, despite their doubts about her, they really should have left Sophie behind, as she was the least of their problems. Not five minutes after they had left the tower, the doors opened once more to another figure, silhouetted by the light behind him and the dark, bulb less hallway.

"Anyone home?" He asked, marching in with a group of people behind him, all of them seeming to be in robes and armour.

Then the main doors closed again, and all was dark once more.

We rejoin the Titans as they arrive at the scene. Sophie was placed upon a high roof, courtesy of young Miss Raven, while the rest of the Titans formed a row in front of the abomination.

"What the hell are you?" Beast Boy demanded with a growl in his throat and both eyes set upon the face, which lifted itself up to stare back. A makeup-covered eyelid opened to show there was no eye, just a red, bloody mass that trickled down her powdered cheek. On closer inspection, her whole face was done in make up, and the marvellously lengthy blonde hair was dyed. As she spoke, a hiss came from her, her lungs trying to keep up with her newly made body. Once the blood had finished being "cried" out, it hit the ground and congealed almost instantly. A blood shot eye now stared at them, almost pleading but also with a deepened revulsion, almost for what they had done to her, for what humanity had done to her. It replied briefly, and succinctly. 

"Vanity."

A pause.

"Great. Just when you think you've seen it all, we get attacked by one of the seven deadly sins." Raven commented.

And then, with horrifying speed, one of the gigantic legs was lancing down on at.

"Emphasis on DEADLY!" Savior yelled as all the Titans dove away, the limb crashing down where they were, spraying concrete and smacking the Titans with a shock wave that was more appropriate for an explosion, as they were tossed around like rag dolls…

Jedi: Once again, I have left you on somewhat of a cliffhanger. I know, bad me, bad me.

Nigel: Bad you indeed!

Jedi: I have enough characters turning against me, I don't need you to start also... ¬¬ Anyway, the next chapter should be up sooner… ish… maybe… hopefully?


	19. Humanity: Our God, Our Rules!

Flashing Lights and Sounds

By Jedi-and

Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide, but I DO own my own characters.

* * *

Chapter 19: Our God, Our Rules!

* * *

Gluttony, Sloth, Vanity, Lust, Greed, Envy and Wrath.

To most people these things mean one thing…the deaths in a movie entitled _Seven_. Gee, wasn't that ending shocking when Brad Pitt…er, anyway…

To the followers of the Christian, Catholic, Protestant and all Jesus based religions, it was said in their written works that you must try not to (or for some, you MUST not) do wrong, and the seven deadly sins were said to be the worst failings you could succumb to. But of course, these things weren't like the 10 Commandments, which were preset statements, but more like states of mind, things that are harder to control, and thus harder to understand.

It's no wonder that some people become obsessed with them. People who fixate about how beautiful they are, or how much money they make or how much someone else is making, because that is part of who we are.

But then again...

"Seven deadly sins indeed." Savior cursed as he dove out of the way of another monster leg bearing down upon him. He managed to gain enough momentum to swing out of the way just as the leg smashed through a car, almost as if the car was made out of tissue paper (It was a convertible, but it doesn't mean that the metallic sides should fold like a toy). Said dodge had come because Savior had swung in to strike and lash at the creature, to no apparent detrimental effect whatsoever. And it wasn't just him: each Titan that came up against the creature was soon dismissed with as much effort as a horse might exert to get rid of some flies.

Scalpel came in slashing, but was batted away using the broad side of Vanity's left insect leg, sending him crashing into a shop window, ruining some of this year's hottest new wedding dresses.

Most villains at this point in time would probably say something, something really corny like 'How vain!' or 'You need to work on your make-up', but not this one. She wasn't gloating, she wasn't taunting or monologuing, she was just fighting. Her eyes didn't seem interested in anything but whatever pain swirled inside her head, but her body fought with the instincts to survive. It was creepy, the way her smaller, more human body counterpart seemed to shake sometimes, each time trying to reassess what was around her.

"Any thoughts boss?" Cyborg asked, blasting away at the creature with quick, sharp blasts from his sonic cannon. There was a pause. Too much of one, while they waited for an answer, and before one came Gauntlet was knocked back into the Café that Noel oh so enjoyed.

"Argh! Keep blasting! We need to find some sort of weak spot!" He yelled, throwing a Shimmer strand upwards and catching hold of a building ledge. Vanity didn't know what he was planning, but she caught on before long as he shot up to try and get on her back. She wasn't having any of it as with one of her spare 'hands' she grabbed hold of the strands, yanked them from their brace on the building, and swung Savior down onto the ground with a heavy thud. He groaned, and then he furiously rolled out of the way of one of her huge feet.

Beast Boy shot forwards, randomly sifting through his powers until he found one that seemed to be of some use. The elephant. Even though the woolly mammoth was a bigger creature, the elephant wasn't such a large target, so he could get away with more. Or at least that was the idea. He used the space in between his tusks to push one of the appendages of the creature away, but this only seemed to aggravate it as one of its large hands enveloped the Titan and threw him aside just as easily as if he was a human.

Raven was the next batter up, lifting cars off the street that she propelled at her foe, floating in midair as she attacked. She had seen creatures like this, worse than this, but they were generally in fiction. She thought back to all the times she asked the boys to stop shouting because they had completed Resident Evil faster than the other one, and how the final bosses were always a bit of a bitch to deal with. She laughed to herself, how in those kinds of games those last foes were always some hideous monster, through and through.

But this wasn't. It was a teenager. She was probably only a few years Raven's senior, grafted to this frame, this other entity to control it. But by who? And why? And how did they handle it?

Thoughts raced through her mind to try and figure out what had happened, and one scenario was that the creature was created but could not sustain itself, and so they used this teenager to almost _power_ it, to be a part of it, against her will. If that was the case, she couldn't let this creature remain like this, so she fired what she could to try and help dislodge the teen, making sure her force wasn't enough to seriously harm her. But all this succeeded in doing was drawing the attention away from the males and onto her. The bloodshot eye circled up towards the Goth lovely, and then the macabre creature started making its way forward, slowly but surely.

Who would have thought that, even while in this form, the young teen only thought about her beauty? Or maybe that was just a trick impression her face was giving Raven, as said face, with drying blood flowing down from the eye and cracking off, went through various expressions, or rather a cycle of the more excruciating ones. Pain, anger, fear, paranoia, depression, exhaustion, all the looks that parents don't like to see on their children, expressions we spend thousands of Pounds, Dollars, Euros and other currencies on a year to avoid by activities, holidays and other escapes.

Raven backed up, continuing her barrage of vehicles in the hopes that it might slow the somewhat sluggish creature down. And that seemed to be working…until she was backed up to the end of the street, and found she had run out of cars without people in them, and being at a four-way junction, she was surrounded by pedestrians and motorists to boot. Forced to find new 'ammo, she reached out with her hand as she focussed all her power upon one of the large lights that directed traffic across the intersection and started to pull it from the ground. However, her powers, maybe because of the constant exhaustion from Robin running them ragged a few days before, didn't seem to want to work at full capacity, and she found herself struggling with ripping the traffic lights from the concrete floor. Unable to draw this option quickly, she once again scanned the area for secondary targets to rip up, but alas, none were in direct sight.

She really should have been paying better attention to her target, the 'slow' monster.

A hand descended upon her, and before Raven could react it wrapped her up, almost cradling her like a child, but with a grip strong enough to make sure she stayed put. Raven was brought closer towards the controlling creature, and even as she was about to make some noise to indicate she didn't much appreciate this she saw that the gag that the Titans thought they had seen was actually something else. It was a Bit, a long thin pole that was either used for riding horses or to put in a person's mouth to endure pain.

"So..." It spoke, a soft tone as it reached forward, not with the giant hand but a human one. She slipped it out of her new body structure and reached towards Raven, her arm and hand covered in congealed blood and what could only be described as veins the size of the average garden hose, the tubes weaving its way in and out of the skin, wrapping around the arm and up to the back of her hand. She smiled softly and placed her hand on the Titan's cheek.

"You are so… beautiful." She laughed, brushing some of the hair out of Raven's eyes. Raven was speechless. Vanity's mind wasn't focused on fighting at all; she was conducting herself in a manner that would best befit someone who wanted to have a casual talk. The fingers of the creature played with her hair a little, and then it dragged its middle finger down the gem that was imbedded onto Raven's forehead. "Simply stunning..."

Raven was quite worried. She didn't know how to react; she didn't know what to do or what to say. It wasn't like when someone was taunting her, to that she could react, but this creature had her prisoner, yet it spent all it's time admiring her. She had no witty comeback or clever solution to what was happening, just a blank look of surprise while everyone who saw this would have had some degree of fear because of the mental instability of the creature. A wishful look came upon the eyes of Vanity while the creature stared at her, then she laughed lightly.

"I must look a mess." It said lightly, trying to get some congealed blood out of her hair. Raven hadn't noticed before, but the battle was carrying on, furiously so, but the head didn't seem to notice. Her arm shook violently, trying as much as she could to remove the blood but failing. Raven's face was the picture of confusion and semi-shock. All she could do was shake her head slowly from side to side. Her mind was screaming at her to do something, but of course her body was shouting back 'Shut up logic and reasoning, I'm being ADMIRED by a MOINSTER here!'

Even for Raven, this wasn't an everyday occurrence. Not an hour ago, her long-term boyfriend, Noel, had been the one stroking her hair. This was, as a certain comedy group might say, something completely different, and not something she liked.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!!"

Raven's head shifted over to the voice that barked that particular order. Noel was here, and boy was he pissed that such a creature had grabbed his girlfriend. He didn't know what Vanity was doing, and Raven didn't know what to think anymore, but the shouting had brought her around and she started to think about ways of getting out of the vice grip she was in. She knew she had to get out of here before Noel did something rash. The head of Vanity looked over at Savior.

"No." She said calmly.

"No?" Savior replied, looking genuinely surprised. "Ok, fine! SCALPEL! GUT HER!" He snarled, turning towards the alien, whose own strength wasn't in top form. He nodded solemnly, trying to think of a way to do as he was told. His Glaive, though excessively sharp by nature, sharp enough to cut through titanium actually, hadn't been sharpened in a long time. It had become dull and was, as such, no use against the creature, so he had to find a new weapon. Folding it away, he looked around for something, anything. Then his eyes caught sight of a half ripped up traffic light and he decided to finish off the job. Along with the help of Cyborg, he dug his talons deep into the metal shaft that supported the light and lifted, completing the task that Raven couldn't. As Savior swung and back away from Vanity to distract her, Scalpel swung with his own weapon, slicing it like a scythe, taking out her middle insect like limb.

Normally, this wouldn't have mattered much as Vanity was made like a spider, or a bug, meaning that she could have some limbs off the floor and it wouldn't matter as others would balance her out, but at the time she only had her insect limb on the floor, the rear legs on the left side was up to move her and the hand was holding Raven. It may not have cut her or anything, but the fact her leg was suddenly taken out was enough as she was forced to let go of Raven to try and balance herself.

Her frame reacted immediately though, kicking Scalpel through a shop window. When it realized it no longer had hold of Raven, the head almost looked pained, and then it turned on Scalpel as he came out of the shop window, grabbing him with the hand she had held Raven in and throwing him far and high into the air. As he flew, he couldn't help but curse at the fact he couldn't fly and landed a few buildings away, hitting a rooftop and rolling and skidding a little, eventually coming to a stop.

Sophie, who was a building away, made her way over to where the alien had landed: focusing immensely, she managed to get her powers to work when she wanted them to, not when THEY wanted to, and got across to help the alien, who at this moment was sitting on the roof trying to recall what day it was, let alone what he was doing or who he was facing. Sophie grabbed his hat and brought it back over and dropped it on his head playfully.

Nigel shook off the cobwebs a little and smiled, though obviously in pain. He had been thrown quite hard after all.

"Just keep it up out there, okay?" Sophie asked, stuttering a little, before helping him up. "I know you can find some form of weakness." She added, though she felt stupid, almost like a cheerleader. But at least she was helping in some way.

"Yes, but what?" He asked her, turning to leave off the ledge he had landed on.

Well that had been the plan.

Two oversized hands clasped onto the side of the building, damaged appendages with skin hanging off. The edge crumbled under the weight and sheer size of the limbs. The pair backed up, freaking a little as the frame and head of Vanity came up to look at them.

"You made me rip out some hair!" The head bellowed, strands of dyed golden tresses in between her fingertips. The alien held his arm out, almost as if he was protecting the civilian bystander, which he was. Sophie couldn't move, and even if she weren't in a state of pure fear, she wouldn't have anywhere to run anyway.

There was a pause, and then the abomination looked at the rounder face of the young caretaker of the dead. Her expression softened looking at the panic stricken girl, before her eyes caught the man once again. That seemed to remind the monster of its intent, as the creature's and the smaller torso's hands reached out to try and grab them.

The eighth deadly sin probably would have been Hesitation, for her procrastination had cost the monster as white lines shot up around the giant hand that reached out towards the pair. While the Shimmer slowed and even started to shift the large hand backwards, the smaller human hand continued to reach forward. Something in Scalpel's mind was going off, there was something about the composition of the image in front of him, something off, something he couldn't put his finger on, until he realised the hand wasn't going for him but going PAST him, avoiding his rugged alien features and headed towards the rounder, sweeter features of Miss Mathews behind him. Nigel's head jerked to the side as he watched the arm go past his shoulder trying to grab at something at Sophie, trying to grab at her face.

"PULL!" A shout from the street yelled, and then the creature was finally catapulted back, but not before taking the mask that Sophie was wearing with her. She had gotten close enough to pry off the super hero mask, once again reverting Sophie's eyes from the empty white that they had been altered to, to the soft and large hazel eyes they usually were. The shock of the fact that something like that had actually managed to touch her made Sophie fall backwards onto the hard rooftop.

On the street, Noel had launched out his Shimmer strands at the creature, grabbing her at several points, however the grip the monster had was just too much for even the Shimmer's power, so he had enlisted the other Titans, and they managed to pull the creature off almost like a tug of war. Vanity landed on her back, HARD, making cars jump up somewhat as the entire street felt like it was shaking. Then there was a gap before the rumbling started again, but not because of anything Vanity was doing, as the edges of the street coiled up and formed a makeshift cocoon around the monster. Terra laughed to herself while she descended on her rock.

"Maybe when she gets out she'll look better." She landed next to Savior, who was trying to call his Shimmer back into his body. "You okay boss?"

"Yeah, just give me a moment."

"Any ideas?" Gauntlet asked, rubbing his jaw somewhat.

"My sonic blasts don't even dent it, while BB can't change into anything strong enough to keep it down, or even knock it down." Cyborg said. Scalpel had jumped down by this time, telling Sophie to hide somewhere out of sight until they got her mask back. He stumbled on the last few steps but regained his balance and approached the team. "And Scalpel is physically screwed. Seriously man, you need a week's getaway."

"A weeks what?" He pondered, raising one of his brows.

"I see what you mean, nothing we do seems to even bother this thing." Savior paused a little, trying to put that mind of his to good use. It was strange: of this group, one person had their mind enhanced by machines, another became a doctor at the age of fourteen, one was a bright young man whose mind could remember so much more because of his ability to control nerves, one was a globe trotting young woman, one was a sorceress and the last male, although he didn't have any real enhancements, had been around the globe a little, yet none of them could think of anything.

"She seemed... distracted when she picked me up." Raven said quietly. She felt quite disturbed at that fact that such a creature had groomed her. Usually she wouldn't have let it get to her and would have shrugged it off, but since Noel had battled and bested her father and essentially released her from her emotional prison, she was able to express herself more easily. But this also worked the other way as well however, meaning even if she didn't want them to come to the surface, some emotions would arise. It was becoming harder to control, and sometimes her powers too would have spurts of irregularity, however she just put this down to the constant workload over the past few days.

"Yes, I noticed that the creature was reaching past me and aiming for our 'Guest'." Scalpel said, referring to Sophie. He didn't say her name because if he did, they didn't really need to give her a mask. Savior once again put his thinking cap on, but this time bettering better results.

"Terra, when that thing frees itself, fly in front of it, Scalpel, Beast Boy, when you get the chance, take its leg off! Everyone aim for the same leg!"

Said blonde gulped: she didn't like playing bait for such a creature. I suppose this also demonstrated how green Noel was when it came to command. Most leaders would try and avoid putting anyone in the line of fire, and would have tried to think of another way which didn't require anyone to possibly sacrifice themselves, but Noel just thought he needed to do what needed to be done, any way possible, because there was still people around them, gathering around to see what they were facing this time. Idiots. "This isn't a good place to be, but we have no other choice. When that thing gets up, knock it back down!"

"Sir, Yes sir!" The Titans shouted, though some not in the most serious tone, as together they dashed forward, watching as the many legs on Vanity started to rip apart the concrete cage that had been constructed around her. Moments seemed to pass, and then her head was once again seen, her hair covered in dust and grime as small specs of rubble seemed to stick to her face.

"You... you ruined my makeup..." She said softly, getting her human hand to try and touch up and clean off what she could, her hand shaking violently as dirty tears started to roll down her cheek, not the normal colour of tears but tears that looked like they had come from some sort of rusty old septic tank, a disgusting shade of see-through brown, as her bloodshot eyes tried to lock onto the Titans. Her body shifted and made it's way towards the Titans once again, picking up one of the cars that had been thrown at it earlier and almost mimicking what the Titans had first tried as she returned the car to the senders. Most of the Titans jumped out the way, however Cyborg caught the car and stopped it, the impact pushing him against the front of a store. As soon as he regained his senses, he threw it right back as if it was some dangerous game of tennis. It crashed upon the surface of Vanity, exploding in a ball of fire, but not doing all that much in the way of damage, unless you are talking about collateral damage.

And while the teen machine was trying, Scalpel and Beast Boy made their joint grand play in what had been a very close game, which was so far Vanity 1, Titans 0 and with little time on the clock. From what they had deduced, the head didn't feel the pain of the body, and so while the head was targeted, the body didn't react. So Beast Boy and Scalpel landed upon and waited patiently upon the creature's insect leg. Most people don't know this, but Scalpel always carries his medical bag on him, which would be very useful now as it had one particular blade that was used to cut very tough flesh or ligaments of creatures. Reaching into a separate compartment of the bag, he pulled out this blade, which wrapped around his fingers somewhat and curled upwards, and started to cut around the flesh, Beast Boy keeping a look out to make sure that the head didn't notice them, as well as the unpleasant job to hold apart the skin. In essence, he was amputating the leg.

"Hey." A voice came from above. Seeing the head changing targets, Beast Boy stopped Scalpel from doing any more lest they were caught. The eye of Vanity looked up in anger, then her features relaxed as Terra floated down upon the rock, her natural blonde hair waving in the wind somewhat as the dyed blonde hair of the monster teen laid lifeless across her face.

"Oh, hi." It said, looking up at Terra as she sat in front of it, all the anger it was feeling seeming to fade, leaving this outer shell, almost saddened yet still calm and pleasant. Terra tried to float down, while also trying to keep the contents of her stomach down, towards Vanity, just out of the reach of the gripping hand that had grabbed Raven and nearly had Sophie as well. The Titans playing (well ok, one was playing) doctor looked upwards, trying to work out what Terra was up to. What could she possible say that might make the creature distracted enough to ignore someone sawing off its leg?

"Yeah, I know you may want to but can you stop destroying stuff?"

The boys facevaulted so hard they nearly fell off the leg.

"Oh, okay. Want to chat?"

The boys facevaulted harder, this time hitting the concrete below with a surprising amount of sound yet no crunch. They quickly got back up however, dusted themselves off and once again climbed up the limb to try and amputate it.

Meanwhile up on the rooftops, Raven and Savior watched the attempt to rip Vanity apart while it 'slept'.

"Terra is actually doing something useful with the absolute rubbish that usually comes out of her mouth." Raven commented, almost surprised.

"She's showing a lot of bravery." The white Titan replied, watching and waiting for the moment to strike. He had told Gauntlet and Cyborg to wait in a nearby alleyway, just in case the other two needed help in disabling the beast. It might have been tough, but it wasn't immortal. He, as had most of the Titans, had gained a second sense if something was verging on the powers of a demi-god, and this was nowhere near it. It was just the lack of experience that made it harder, as most of the team they had today had less familiarity than him, and that made things a little disconcerting.

"Wait until she comes to within a few inches from her hand, and she'll run like a little girl. I can already feel the fear in her." Raven said cynically.

"Patience Raven, we have to make sure that we give the others enough time." Savior said, as he pulled out the mask that had fallen to the floor because of the creature's grasp and passed it to Sophie, who had come out of hiding and carried on watching the fight, nearly eating her gloved hand in nervous anticipation. She was scared, really scared. She had only seen such creatures in movies and on the news, but coming so close that it could reach out and grab a skintight piece of clothing was something different, something that shook her so much she could barely stand. Luckily she still had her dignity and she didn't need to change her trousers, but she was still scared none the less. Savior patted her shoulder lightly as they all watched the ongoing action.

But they were not alone in their observations, as another man, someone who had an almost sinister feel to him watched also, and he wasn't enjoying the show either. Thing was, this one was rooting for the other team, on dangerous grounds as he wanted the away team to win, and that meant the Titans had to lose. But there was more needed than victory to beat the Titans. He grimaced as he brushed back his dark, almost theatrical hair, the grey strands starting to show with age. He raised his hand and slipped it into a pocket in the outfit he wore, which seemed to be some sort of ceremonial poncho. He pulled out a large ornate silver pocket watch, around the same size as Sophie's but a lot more flamboyant when it came to the pattern, plus the fact the Undertaker's was a gold colour. His glasses reflected the etched numbers as he looked up a little. He placed the trinket into the pocket from whence it came and lifted out of another pocket a small device, it was long and thin with what looked like a rotating section on the top with a series of lights around it, though flush against the equipment so it still looked like a long piece of piping. At the moment it was set so that only a few lights were on, mainly blue… then he twisted it up towards the green scale, making sure he stopped before getting to the yellow.

The effects of this devise was devastatingly quick and visible, as in mid conversation Vanity screamed in pain, her eyes once again starting to cry that dirty water as she tried to reach up for something near her, then with devastating speed she placed the bit that had been hanging around her neck, the one that was first mistaken for a gag, in her mouth and proceeded to do it's namesake action, as she bit down hard to try and numb the pain she was feeling. She wasn't the only one suffering however, because the device gave off a VERY high pitched hum, and this was picked up by a few of the Titans, some of them covering their ears to try and block out the muted sound vibration. Yes, it was so high pitched that people couldn't actually hear it, lest you were some of the Titans or the dogs that were going crazy in the surrounding street. Gauntlet sprung into action, his artifact converting back to its full arm state so he could try and put an energy bubble around Scalpel and Beast Boy so they could continue to work. However this was less successful than thought as he didn't know what he was blocking against and therefore could only block against what he knew about, which made the barrier less effective than desired, while Cyborg tried to pinpoint whatever was making everything go crazy with the toys in his armour.

He shouldn't have wasted his time, because as soon as the cylinder like piece of technology was activated, Sophie's head shot upwards and looked directly at where the man was. If you remember, Sophie had accidentally drank some of the Man-Bat's blood and it had left her with some strange abilities, like turning into bats. It also gave a certain sensitivity to higher pitched noises to the undertaker, ultrasound and dog whistles being some of the things that set off such a sense (and for that you could probably tell she disliked hospitals or hunting grounds for these reasons because after a while they would give her a headache). Without taking her eyes off from where the noise was coming from, she reached over to grab Savior, who was intensely puzzled/alarmed at the events that were occurring. To his eyes, all he could see was that Vanity had suddenly started to jerk and move in what, Raven told him, was pain and that Scalpel and Beast Boy were also acting strange, while Gauntlet and Terra had also started to panic somewhat, not to mention Cyborg running around like, as we English say, a blue arsed fly.

"What?!" He snapped, not meaning to. He didn't want to be curt, but he was unsure of what was going on and he didn't like being left out of the loop, and this was one loop that even his powers couldn't pick up on. It improved his brain, shifted pain and even protected organs and recreated brain matter (or wiped out someone else's), but it didn't make him pitch sensitive. Sophie would have jumped back a little, however she was far too distracted by the sound, and it was driving her mad.

"Up there!" She pointed to the top of a building. Unfortunately, the sun had just started to move behind the midway point and started to fall over the top of the other building, and this made seeing what she was pointing at was a little difficult, plus the fact Savior didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, then again with the Shimmer that was a pretty long way. However, when he looked up he saw nothing. And why should he, he wasn't looking for anything. He didn't even know what the hell she was going on about. "The noise is coming from there!"

"Noise?" Raven asked, trying to look over as well.

"Can't you hear it?" She asked, finally breaking her gaze from the spot were it was and looking at the pair.

"No but you apparently can, and if you're on the level I know who else can!" Savior called down to Cyborg

"I'm way ahead of you man! That cord in the back of her coat really works wonders." Cyborg shouted through the communicator, making it spill out of the com-device on the other side, which was Sophie's jacket. A slight blush came across Sophie's face: she had thought that the communicator in the jacket was just an elaborate bluff. She hadn't expected them to actually put a cord in the back of it that picked up on every word she said. And she had said some things that she didn't really want to say in front of others, like promising to God that if he made sure she stayed alive she would become his devoted follower. She had also said that she would remain a virgin if he got her out of this mess. She just hoped that the others hadn't picked up what she had blurted out in a moment of stress. She buried her face in her purple-gloved hands as her face turned beetroot from embarrassment. The sorceress near her caught on anyway, being an empath, as Savior tried to spy what was causing the high frequency din.

"You don't have anything to worry about." She whispered out of earshot of Noel. Sophie didn't look up. "Only Cyborg is connected up to your jacket, no one else can hear what you say. Besides, most of the com links are turned off to the bandwidth we use."

"What about the radio stations?" She asked, looking up, her face well and truly red.

"You'll be heard on Iraq FM if that's what you mean, or any one using our bandwidth without permission. But all the radio stations have been warned that we are using this particular bandwidth, as are the police, and even then you are on a slightly different frequency, so only you and I will know about your deal with the 'almighty'." She said the last bit somewhat flatly. She knew demons existed, and she knew creatures with omnipotent powers existed, but she wondered if God existed at all. Well, she was half demon and god's presence didn't really concern her that much. Despite this new comforting news, the civilian was still glowing that same bright red and trying to hide her face from the world.

The figure didn't like this new change of events. His control device had made them aware of his position. With his teeth grinding against each other in anger, he reached for his watch again. And once again he placed it back in anger. Each step of his plan needed to last a certain amount of time, and if he ran now his plan would be in trouble. He needed to think of something, anything. And once again his educated mind reached for the control and once again he twisted the end, making the lights go up from green, to yellow with just a dash of orange in it. Anything to make sure this plan worked. Anything to make sure that he would not fail again.

Vanity thrashed, pain spasming through her body before she grabbed hold of Terra, her human hand holding her in a surprisingly powerful grasp.

"Just… kill me!" She pleaded.

Terra wasn't able to cope with this; her body almost shorted out, unsure of what the hell was happening, but she knew she didn't expect what was going to happen next.

Vanity passed out. After what seemed like an eternity of pain and struggling, the controlling body just gave out, unable to take the pain any more. The teen collapsed inside of the creature itself, leaving the frame to think. And without a conscious mind it went into a survival mode, and suddenly latched onto the idea that someone was attacking it. This was where it became dangerous, as it lashed out with all of its limbs, gorging huge scathes into the walls and shops, glass shards and huge chunks of wall collapsing upon the street bellow. Their plan having gone tits up, the Titans scrambled, making sure that any civilian that hadn't run in fear was out of danger. As for our CSI Wannabes, the legs again threw Scalpel away some distance, before he finally came to a stop a little way down the road, where there was still civilians. In fact he found a group of them as he landed through the table they were sitting at. Some of them screamed a little as Scalpel returned to the realm of the living and sat up, and then nearly keeled over again as he tried to stand up. He picked up his hat, cracked his neck and placed it upon his head once again. He rubbed his neck slightly and reminded himself that making body parts crack was a bad thing. He turned towards the frightened customers, who were staring at him in disbelief.

"What street are we on?" He asked, somewhat groggy, not realising that blood was dripping out of his sleeve, There seemed to be a bit of a pause however before he got a reply.

"3rd and Warwick." One of the men said shakily, pointing down the road. "You came from that way." He said as Scalpel turned.

"I did? I must have been thrown some distance. I apologize for interrupting your day." Scalpel said, and walked off, but not before stealing a large chunk of chicken, inadvertently making the tray it was being served on catch on fire from his blood. He really wondered why he was the unlucky one who always seemed to leave a trail of destruction and angry remarks in his wake. In the back of his mind there was always thoughts of how he stood too far out of the crowd in comparison to the much loved aliens, like Superman, the Martian Manhunter and Starfire, and the feeling that the entire city was turning on him in some way. He shook it out of his head. He was a Titan…he was respected.

Respected?

Or just feared?

He once again shook these thoughts out of his mind and jumped right into the battle again, eating the stolen piece of food on the way.

Things were not going to plan however, as now Vanity was doing more damage than expected, or at least the frame was, as it thrashed and crashed around the cramped street, meaning that the Titans had turned their attention away from the source of the noise to the creature that was under or above them that wanted to destroy everything and get out of there. But now the Titans had one advantage, they had a weak point. Though Scalpel had been thrown off, the knife he used was still imbedded in the insect leg and with the thrashing it had caused the cut to open up even more before the knife finally dislodged and stuck in the tarmac road. Now everything that the Titans could muster was being thrown at it, be it sonic blasts, shapes of energy or animal forms, all attacking this one point in the vain (heh) hope that it might disable the creature enough, to knock it down long enough, for the Titans to grab a breather or to even send it packing.

"Come on baby! Show us what's inside!" Cyborg shouted, firing off some quick blasts to open the wound of the creature even more before finally jumping out of the way as the leg that was being attacked lashed out in the general direction of the attacker. Luckily, with the head gone, the body couldn't zone in on were the attacks were coming from. Once again, as always, that was a small favour. Luck was always a big factor, but it usually worked against the Titans, so when something lucky DID happen, it was either small or too little too late, but there were those rare instances that it did help them.

This was not one of them.

The legs continued their assault upon everything that wasn't nailed down, was nailed down, and had no nails involved. Even as it did though, Gauntlet climbed the weak leg slowly, trying to dodge swipes made by other limbs to get him off, using what skill, agility and dumb luck he had gained while being a part of the Titans, and his previous experience as a member of an Ubertronian superhero group, hanging onto the limb as it thrashed around. It made getting to the weak point a little more difficult than he originally thought, but he managed it, and once he got to the top all he could really do was pause as he looked at it.

"You need to see a doctor about this, oh wait, you have."

If the others had been in earshot they would have facevaulted, because even when he was halfway up a monster's leg, he still had to say some B list banter. Savior would have groaned. Why couldn't it have been him who had left instead of Robin?

Gauntlet initiated his powers and used them to start prying apart the two sides of the limb. Ripping and squishing occurred as spurts of blood sprayed against the barrier he had created to protect him, using the energy to stop the blood from getting on his whiter than white t-shirt and brand new denims. He had only got them the other day in the lull that had been the lack of any incredibly bloody villains and he didn't want this set to be ruined like the previous set. Or rather sets. Seemingly the level of the villains always seemed to suddenly jump when he got new clothes, making things a lot bloodier than they needed to be.

In the end it wasn't Gauntlet or any of the other Titans that caused the leg of the creature to fall, but the creature itself. In a desperate attempt to get rid of whatever was attached firmly onto its being, the limbed frame struck downwards to where Gauntlet was, a giant open palm coming down full speed. Ironically it was open, like someone wanting to squash a bug, while the 'Bug' was standing on the insect limb. The huge appendage crashed down, Rob just managing to jump out of the way, using the Gauntlet to make a sort of slide that allowed him to glide away from the blow. Never serious, even now.

"Back, safe and sound and, for once, clean." He smiled as Scalpel strolled casually up to him, eating the last of the chicken he had swiped. Cyborg joined them, finally allowing his cannon to reform to his hand. Terra, having at last gotten the cobwebs out of her mind also joined them, as did Beast Boy.

And those were Rob's 'Famous last words' as the congealed blood that was holding back the veins gave way as the limb fell to the ground with a thud, semi solid blood spraying from any open tube or vessel, over everything that came in it's way. This included the five Titans, who was standing neatly in front of the now severed limb, meaning they got a first hand view of what would happen if Tarantino did zombie movies.

The group blinked their eyes open as they stood there, completely covered in gunk and grime.

"EEEWWWW!!" Terra shouted, both her fists clenched in front of her. Beast Boy mirrored her look of utter disgust.

"This... will NEVER wash out." Gauntlet said, as he sighed.

"I'll be getting this out of my system for the next month or so." Cyborg commented, his shoulders also slumping. Scalpel just blinked a few times, then looked at his now ruined chicken leg, and threw it over his shoulder with a shrug, before starting to try and shake the stuff off, much to the other's verbal protests.

"Well it can only improve the design on his jacket." Savior darkly remarked, as he leaned against the edge of the rooftop. He had never liked the pattern on any of the jacket's their alien male had. He thought the designs were awfully gaudy and too excessive for his simple tastes; he liked his white leather jacket, white denim trousers/jeans and near-white blue shirt (or rather, the highly refined body armour that LOOKED like a white leather jacket, white denim trousers/jeans, and near white blue shirt). The only thing that was a different colour was the blue headband he wore sometimes, just to make sure that he wasn't blinded by sweat during particularly heated combat. He couldn't find one in pure white, and seeing as it was part of his original costume he wanted to keep it. He wouldn't call it a 'Lucky Charm', more of a slight familiarity and a constant reminder stating even he wasn't perfect, even HE started somewhere.

"Perhaps, but we still haven't really addressed that problem yet. I think he might feel a little down if you took his jackets away from him." Raven said.

"I don't think they look too bad." Sophie commented, peering over the edge a little.

"Trust me, it glows in the dark." Savior retorted.

"Your point being?" Raven questioned.

"A uniform shouldn't GLOW in the DARK!"

"What about Buzz Lightyear?" Sophie asked quietly, looking over at the white teen. He thought back to the movie _Toy Story_ and realised that she was indeed correct. Buzz Lightyear did glow in shaded areas. And with that, Light-weight had sunk his point. He fumbled for a comeback, not wanting to be outsmarted by an undertaker who skipped school to work.

"Lightyear is fictional." He simply stated, before he carried on watching what was happening. Raven shrugged and Sophie softly smiled to herself before a sudden jerk forward by Savior caught the girls' attention. His face, and his mindset, had transformed from the semi-serious look of those in a quick discussion to an alert, vigilant look as he strained to look closer at what had caught his eye. The Titans on the ground started to panic as they backed away from the blood that was still flowing, as Vanity's body started to slip on its own life fluid, before it righted itself and stopped. Coming down from the survival high, and without a mind, the body stopped its movement, but there was now another problem.

"What the..." Savior questioned as the blood looked like it had started to, from a distance anyway, bubble.

This wasn't true, even if it looked like it.

What was happening was a lot more worrying.

The blood that was on the ground and on the Titans had started to bubble…but the bubbles weren't bubbles at all, because they were not round, but almost…shaped.

Then it happened: the bubbles burst, leaving small red things. No one could see what they were, until of course they sprouted wings and flew upwards, brandishing sharp claws and fangs.

They were insects, and not particularly happy looking ones at that.

Savior couldn't explain it, but somehow insect Larva had found their way into the blood stream of Vanity and mutated…or were they already mutated? They didn't want to find out because as soon as they were up, the new things shot off in different directions, attacking civilians and Titans alike, trying to suck blood up to feed them, to replace the putrid muck they fed off of when they were in a more infantile state.

THEN there was screaming. First it was Terra, who tried to pry the things out of her gloves, then it was Beast Boy, whose fur had been covered with these creatures. Scalpel was next as he started to try and claw them out of his mouth as he unfortunately had his mouth OPEN when the blood had gushed, leaving Gauntlet and Cyborg last, Cyborg trying to pry them out of his systems and Gauntlet trying to use his artifact to pry them off of him, even if they were at skin and below skin levels.

Then things started to go to a very hot place in a basket we have all heard of. From their vantage point, the remaining members of the Titans plus the civilian could see what looked like a cloud of red beasties going every were, like a swarm of locus greeting everything in their path with a pair of fangs.

"TITANS! I don't care what you have to do! Kill those bastard things!" Savior shouted down as they continued to scurry around, trying their hardest to kill them. Scalpel had resorted to using his crescent-like blade as a fly swatter, squashing as many of the things as humanly possible. Terra was doing the same using the pavement slabs. Even if they were mixed with water, they were once stone and gravel and hence still under her jurisdiction. Beast Boy was running around a little, contemplating if a Venus flytrap was an animal or a plant. When he concluded it was a plant he cut out that option and turned into one of his more favoured forms, the gorilla, squashing them within his large hands. Gauntlet and Cyborg, having finally gotten the Vanity Bugs off of their bodies, had made their way over to the limp form of the mother creature that spawned those things and started to cauterize the wound that was flowing with blood that was spawning the insects. Luckily, once they were able to stop the actual flow of blood, it made the task of killing the things somewhat easier. Not a lot, but somewhat.

"Come on, we have to join in!" Savior said, stepping up and off the side of the building. Raven also stepped up but paused, as she had noticed that Sophie had taken out a pen and paper and started to write.

"What are you writing?" She asked, puzzled. The young woman didn't reply, but she showed her the page, which contained a brief account of what had happened and a cleverly worded answer to most questions asked by the press. Raven shook her head.

"We don't speak to the press, so there is no need for a press conference statement. We mostly hate them, they hate us, or rather the other way around. I know it's morbid but a part of me was somewhat glad when the entire editorial team for the Daily Far-Cry newspaper was slaughtered, I didn't want them to die, but at least now they would be off of our backs."

And Raven jumped down, finishing it there. The Daily Far-Cry, as regular readers will know, was decimated by the arrival of the White Hole, Rebecca Styles. In the past they had printed some rather unflattering stories about the Titans, and other visiting super heroes. Despite their saying "We bring the truth, even if it hurts", they seemed to take a particular enjoyment when it came to picking apart a super hero: even if they had put their life on the line for Jump City, the paper would slander them. They had been lucky when the Final Night and the Last Wish happened, as their office had been spared both times. Unfortunately, that time they were not so lucky. I suppose its Karma; after all even after the Titans risked their lives to destroy the Lord, they still got a bad rep whenever the media found an opening…

But I am straying off onto a tangent. Again.

The man standing at the top of the building smirked. The back up had worked better than even he had planned: the Titans were covered in the Vanity Bugs and were running around like the proverbial headless chickens. That might become an actuality with the creature swinging his sharp weapon in the almost haphazard way he was. He smiled and started to press buttons, and a device that almost seemed like a plunger for a load of TNT shot from the end of his control device, and when all the Titans had split up and gone away to squash the insects, he slammed it down. On the road, Vanity jolted a little, before it continued to spasm and finally allowed its being to come back to life. The head of Vanity looked up a little, and even though her eyes were blurred and her mind foggy, she still managed to get that one primal thought into her mind and she did it with surprising speed. She escaped, running, or rather limping, away.

When Savior came back after finally wiping up all the insects, blood splats all up his arms and torso, even some in his hair and body, and he saw the slight depression on the ground were Vanity fell, yet no Vanity, he could only continually curse. However, I'll stick with one universal one.

"Shit."

* * *

"I still don't get how we managed to loose a creature of that magnitude!" Victor Stone shouted, his arms raised as they made their way back into the tower, each of them covered in gunk, blood, sweat and even some tears.

"All I understand is that I may not eat something for at least a good day or so." Nigel commented, as he finished trying to pick bits of bug off of his tongue. He had thrown up twice already, and he didn't want to make it a third.

"Shame, it was Sophie's turn to cook." Terra said slyly.

"M-mine?!" She replied, taking the mask she borrowed off.

"Well seeing as you are taking up one of the rooms, you can take one of the meal slots. It's only fair."

"I can cook well enough for my own means, but for others..."

"I thought you said she knew how to make a really nice omelette..." Noel asked, as Raven rubbed his somewhat aching back. He'd slipped up on some of the blood and came down hard on the concrete. He would never admit it, but at times he loved the little things that Raven did for him, like the times she pampered him somewhat.

"She knows how to make it, if she can or not is a different question." Raven replied, blood trickling down her nose.

"I say we get some ice cream, something nice and sweet." Rob stated, also somewhat hunched over.

"Dude, as the one who suffered the most in that I think I should get to pick." Garfield Logan piped up, green patches of his fur a sort of orange/red colour from where the bugs had gotten stuck in said fur and so just started to bite him again and again.

"You?!" Nigel asked incredulously. Yes, being bitten hurt, but he had been bitten from the inside out!

"Well you said you couldn't eat for ages!"

"I may have changed my mind." Scalpel replied, folding his arms, trying to look noble…and failing as red blood flowed down his nose and to the tip, rolling off the end, completely obliterating any point he had made. This made Sophie smile as the others laughed lightly, finally making their way to the lounge.

Only to get somewhat of a shock.

The doors slid open lightly as the Titans all started to de-gear themselves, some removing jackets and cloaks, while others started to take off boots and goggles…

And then Victor suddenly stopped, too abruptly, so that Rob, who had been walking too close behind him, slammed face first into his armour. Everyone else quickly walked or slammed into the block as well.

"Ow! What the hell is going on!" Noel cursed, and as he and the others started to look around they saw why.

Standing there, in the middle of their main room was a young woman, no older than the Titans and defiantly no younger. She was tall and had a strikingly attractive figure. Her clothes were simple, a light summer shirt and denims as her very long, fire red hair hung over her shoulder as she turned, revealing completely emerald green eyes. She had a bag in one hand and a suitcase next to her. She smiled lightly, but it had a warmth to it that none of the others could have produced, a sort of boundless energy tucked away under the exterior.

"Hello friends, I am home." She greeted them with open arms, her smile continuing to shine.

"Kory." Vic announced (well, he almost whispered it to start with), nearly in shock, but the sudden revelation made Nigel step back a little and into the shadows, hoping not to be seen at all. In his mind, he still felt guilty for what happened to her, even though he was told it wasn't his fault. Still, he just couldn't feel right around the young Tamaranean princess, and he didn't want to be seen by her, so he tried to slip away.

Unfortunately, he found his path blocked.

"You're going to have to talk to her sometime Scalpel." Raven stated, rather bluntly. But Scalpel didn't turn back to Starfire; he only looked to where he had decided to go.

"Why should I ruin her happy return?" He questioned, before going down the dark stairs. The block broken, the others poured into the room, Sophie hanging back, not sure what to say or do. Eventually she too made a quick escape, as she decided that her time would be better spent trying to find a bathroom, or maybe a proper kitchen than just standing there. She didn't know if she was really allowed, but she did it anyway. The others however, decided that now was a good time to confront on the sudden and abrupt return, each joyful even though somewhat confused at what was happening.

"Kory, I thought..." They began, watching her, looking her over to make sure she was the same Starfire that had left them a few months ago, it all seemed too... sudden.

"You thought I would not come back?" She replied, and then sighed and dropped the bag on her shoulder. "Where else do I have left to go? I am too out of touch with my world to go home, and I have not enough of your earth currency to go anywhere here." She sighed once more.

"Well we're always here for you Kory, you know that." Cyborg said, patting his friend on her back, smiling and laughing at the fact there seemed to be a break in the gloom.

"Thank you all, I have missed you all so very much." The young Tameranean said, as she gripped everyone in a group hug, not wanting to let go for life nor death.

"But, I thought..." Gar started, before he was silenced.

"After I received the information from Noel and Raven I felt that, although I was hurt, the only place I could really be is with the ones who care for me, and to do that I came home. I wanted to speak to you all again." There was a pause from her. Even though she was, or at least seemed happy to be back, that was soon replaced by confusion, and Raven and Noel knew instantly the next question that was going to come out of the alien's mouth as she scanned the faces that surrounded her.

"Where is Robin?"

An awkward silence filled the air, almost as bad as the pause while watching an atom bomb drop, looking at the silent shockwave before it explodes, taking everything with it. They all turned to Noel, looking for answers. He quickly engaged his brain, that same mind that had outtalked most of the clever villains and heroes in the area and could pull any quote from any book.

The same brain that had been overworked for the last few days and came up at a near blank.

"He has taken a few days a few to collect himself, he'll be back later." He stated, hoping to every level of heaven and hell that it would convince the young woman. Their luck gave them a break: she appeared to be content with what was said, as she just nodded and continued to talk to the others, leaving the white Titan to turn to his darker counterpart.

"I feel low now." He muttered.

"I'm not surprised, but it had to be done." Raven reassured him, trying to make sure he remained true to his own convictions. She pretty much agreed with him on everything he had said and done during this time as leader, even if she was just a little bit biased. The sound of joyous laughter caught the pair off guard somewhat as they too started to wonder if they should creep off to find out more about Vanity. With Kory back, Noel wondered what it did to her mental state of...

"To celebrate my return, I have made breakfast!" The orange skinned creature shouted. Raven looked at the clock on the wall. It was one in the afternoon.

Noel scratched the previous thought out of his mind. Same old Starfire, just a little more sensitive. He reminded himself to go around telling the others to curve their talk about her accident for a few months.

"Oh yes, Noel. I found this computer sheet from our main database when I returned. It was addressed to the leader of the Titans, which I figured you were, so I didn't read it. Here." Starfire said, as she suddenly had floated over to Noel's side and handed him a folded piece of paper. "I believe it's from Oracle."

"Oracle? What could…" Noel said, as he opened the paper and started reading. Kory, meanwhile, had flown back to her friends and was trying to get them to the table, while the others tried to organize a subtle way of checking if the food Kory had made was editable or not…

Their eyes all caught the motion as Noel's arm suddenly fell to his side in the limp matter of somewhat who had learned something extremely shocking.

"Noel? What's wrong?" Victor asked.

"…..Jack Drake is dead." Noel replied.

Silence.

"Who?" Gar asked.

"Jack Drake…Tim's dad…he was murdered."

Silence again.

"Oh no…" Kory replied, bringing her hands to her mouth, as it started to sink it for the others. Someone had murdered Robin's father. Someone…

But none of them were as shocked as Noel, as he realized what had happened. The thing had reached out and touched them anyway. He'd heard the rumours: Sue Dibny, wife of the Elongated Man, murdered, Jean Loring, ex-wife of the Atom, attacked and almost hanged, Superman's civilian wife whose name Savior did not know written a threatening letter…and worse, whispers of dark deeds done by past members of the JLA that may have somehow brought this all about…and now it had reached out and touched the Titans. Jack Drake, Robin's father…dead….at the hands of…

"Captain Boomerang?" Noel said, his voice completely and utterly stupefied. That was the one part that didn't make any sense. Why was a washed up Rogue, a member of the villain caste that exclusively battled with the Flash, doing attacking Jack Drake…an attack that had left the old washout dead as well, as Jack Drake had had a gun and he had protected himself. But not well enough, as Captain Boomerang had gotten him too, and what was going on this was spinning out of control it was terrible a crisis…

He would have asked the others…except something strange was happening. He couldn't explain it really…his mind felt a little foggy, and something happened that hadn't for a while. His arm went numb, and for someone who had control over his or her body to the fine degree of detail he had, that was unusual…

* * *

Downstairs, Sophie was wandering the corridors, looking around to try and find something that resembled a stairwell, only to come across a large office. The floor was a marble colour with large windows, with equally large blinds on them. Cabinets and drawers lined what wall space wasn't taken up by windows, and in the same vein for the floor so did lab desks and a sink. A door was also there, leading into another room off to the side with a red light on it. In that room were several hospital beds and examining tables, leading over to the far side where there was a desk. It was a large, wooden piece of furniture, very wide and very deep. It was an expensive looking piece of 'setting' with a large red leather chair behind it, and in said red chair sat one Blacktrinian man, his hat still firmly planted upon his head as he shifted through the different notes and documents that had been sprawled across his desk. 

"Welcome to my own personal hospital Miss Sophie." He said, looking up. She would have ducked out quickly but she knew she had been already seen and there fore just decided that it would be best to wander on in and start to look around. It was a large room indeed, but clean and somewhat comfortable. The blinds had been opened to let enough light in, but not so much that it made the room too bright. "Here for a check up?"

She nodded lightly as he stood from his desk and she walked in, closing the door behind her, the two reached the centre of the room as Nigel reached for his bag to give her a general check up (really, get your mind out of the gutter you perverts). Then he remembered that he had taken off his cape, jacket and bag. So he told her to sit on the bed while he fetched them.

"Do you smell something?" Sophie asked, sniffing the air. Nigel looked up and smiled.

"Probably the..." He cut off his own words as he sniffed as well. His eyes seemed to stretch wide before dashing for his desk, throwing open a drawer and grabbing something. "That smell is of a gas based aesthetic!" He shouted, rushing back over to her.

"Nitrous oxide?" Sophie asked, looking around at the vents.

"No, that is a laughing gas and we would be giggling on the floor. This one is designed to put patients under, probably for surgery." He lifted up a mask and placed it around Sophie's face. "Get out while you can and grab some Titans to go as well!"

Sophie slipped off the bed and made a beeline for the door, before turning back to see Nigel stumble a little.

"Scalpel!" She shouted, he just waved her off.

"Just go! It'll take a lot more than this to knock me out!" He yelled, and stood up again, dragging his bag with him and rummaging through. "GO!" He shouted one last time, as she finally did what he told her to do. He continued to search, his eyes getting heavy before he found what he needed. Undoing the cap he sniffed some of the smelling salts he kept with him. That woke him up, at least a little. With the building still filling up with gas via the ventilation, it would probably knock him out eventually but he still had enough time, he hoped at least.

Sophie ran around a little, getting lost before she came across Starfire, who was looking somewhat dazed and confused while the others started to fall asleep around her. She reached the lounge and was red faced and panting lightly, her hands reaching for her knees as she tried to gain her breath back.

"We need..." She breathed. "To get out of here!" Starfire didn't know what was going on, and she had only caught a quick glimpse of Sophie before hand, but she knew who Sophie was and nodded, coughing somewhat as she continued to stagger towards the door. The young undertaker wrapped the alien's arm over her shoulder, making sure that she could support her weight.

But it became clear that the gas wasn't the only threat. Soon there were footsteps, lots of them, heavy boots and men carrying what sounded like weapons. Darting her eyes around the room for an exit, she couldn't find one that didn't give the sounds of boots, and the boots were coming louder and louder and she panicked.

Then it occurred to her. The ventilation ducts.

"Please powers! Work!" She called to herself as she, and Kory, vanished into a whiff of bats and shot upwards, with a quiet shriek, to the ceiling. Each bat tore open the grate in the rooftop that supplied ventilation, and pushed their way through.

Just in time.

A young man, the same young man who had stepped foot in the tower earlier, moved through the door. He wore light, flowing clothing, a robe with no sleeves but plenty of cloth all over including a sash that crossed across the front of his open robes and bare chest. Of course, he wore a gasmask, even though his long, tied hair could still be seen.

"All too easy." He stated as he raised the head of Raven, laughing to himself.

"Teacher!" A man behind him called: he seemed also to be in robes, but they were much simpler ones, almost as if he was a foot soldier. "We found this one who had resisted the gas!"

A group of about seven men brought Scalpel forward as he groggily tried to stay awake. He was, however, clutching onto his bag for dear life. A bag that was soon stripped from him by the 'teacher'.

"Well then, seeing as you seem like such a strapping young man how about taking some sedatives? I think a big strong guy like you could handle a few thousand CC's." The so called 'teacher" said, as he fiddled around a little with the bag and pulled out a needle. He filled it near to the brim from a small bottle ladled Curare.

"Teacher? What if we kill him?" One of the men asked.

"It won't matter; he isn't part of our plans." He simply replied, before plunging the needle deep into the arm of the young alien, pressing hard on the end and forcing Scalpel, much against his will, into a silent stupor.

"Be careful with the ones known as Raven, Beast Boy, Terra and Savior. Bring the others also but be careful with those." He paused while the 'pupils' moved the bodies, and to be honest they were a little rough.

"Your souls will be damned if you do against my wishes! SO BE CAREFUL!" He finished bellowing.

The Titans were his.

But not all of them, which meant that they still had the upper hand.

Maybe

* * *

How long were the Titans asleep though?

An hour? A day? A few days? When in a gas-induced stupor, they couldn't really tell. Could you? I've spent the best part of a day unconscious after an operation and that only felt like an hour or so of sleep. The same could be said for them, as they were in a deep sleep and hence, had no real sense of time. But they knew that when they DID wake up, it was somewhere else, somewhere that wasn't in the tower.

And they couldn't move.

As their eyes opened up one by one, they realised that in the time they had slumbered each of them had been shackled to what could only described as a ritualistic examination table.

"Excuse me? What's going on?" Gauntlet stated as he looked around to see the others.

"We've been captured. AGAIN. Joy." Beast Boy muttered.

"Well on the bright side we get to lie down this time..." Gauntlet replied, half heartedly commenting on all the times they had been restrained by their wrists and hung, much in the way they might do at the butchers. All of them were awake... save Nigel.

"Scalpel." Terra called, trying to wake him up. Nothing but a light snore. "Scalpel!" She tried again, still nothing. "SCALPEL!" He tried to shoot upwards with the final bellow, only to find his wrists above him and hence, accidentally dislocating one of his shoulders, making him give off a yell.

"Spare parts not included..." Cyborg commented with a cringe. Most of the Titans cringed a little as they tried to find a way out of their predicament. It seemed pretty clear that Mad Mod was making a killing on those power repressors as their powers had once again been deactivated, which is probably why Nigel's shoulder was so easily dislocated.

"I never like these situations." Noel commented, looking around unimpressed. "This whole situation has a feeling of... of..."

"Deja Vu?" Raven questioned, looking around. "Well we've become targets and how to disable us has spread amongst the lower circles. We are not perfect, but the fact we can get out of these situations is why we are famous."

"What do you mean LOWER circles?" This new voice was deep and experienced, a slight melancholy sat on the edges of the voice. His walk was tall and proud as he was flanked by two men, one carrying some form of riffle while the other carried a console. The man who addressed them carried nothing but a silver pocket watch that was attached to the poncho like clothing that ordained his torso. Lines on his forehead only paved the way to his hair that spiked upwards and then circled back with spikes in an almost comical or anime style. Simple glasses framed his cold dark eyes as he stared out at the Titans, a scowl on his lips. "I'll have you know I am the highest of the Order of man!" He stated, swinging the watch slightly. It was the man from the rooftop.

"Very well, and what may we address you as?" Noel asked, calmly.

"My disciple's call me High Priest Nickleson, but you may call be Doctor Nickleson." Dr Nickleson stated, not a wit of respect in his voice.

"Are you the one who murdered Sue Dibny and Jack Drake?" Noel asked.

"Who?"

"Guess no. Great, a brand new mess. Lovely." Noel muttered.

"What do you want with us?" Cyborg stated, just as calm and collected as Noel, as he, too, had gone through this routine a few times.

"I want nothing with you, Scalpel or Gauntlet." Nickleson stated lightly. "However the others have managed to win the privilege of becoming part of our... god." He said. He laughed lightly, yet he still looked serious, almost angry. Raven rolled her eyes. She had seen gods; she has been in close enough to actually spit in their faces, though she hasn't yet.

"Just another madman." she thought out loud, looking over at Noel and the others, who just nodded.

"I'm more than a madman young miss Raven." Nickleson said, as he walked over to her and looked down upon her trapped body. "I'm the next step in this religion."

"Cult more like."

His eyes grew more harsh.

"You won't be saying after you have become part of a god." He sneered, and clicked his fingers.

"Prep them for surgery." He said, pointing to one half of the room. "As for them, let my God's protector have them." He pointed to the three that he had stated as useless.

"Prep us?!" Beast Boy yelled, trying to struggle loose.

"You, Miss Raven, are the first lucky person to become part of our leader and you get my best disciple to play with your innards." Nickleson said. He stroked his finger along the edge of the table before rubbing his neck slightly.

"Hold it!" Savior shouted. "Time! WHY do you want to make a god? I know it sounds like a stupid question, but I'd like to know, ESPECIALLY considering your chosen order!" Savior yelled, his anger welling up inside at the thought that someone would try and hurt her.

"If god made man in his image, then man should be able to make god in his." Dr Nickleson simply replied before he reached down at the console his guard carried and pressed it. A piece of floor shot open and the three 'useless' Titans' found their tables flipping up and themselves sliding off them and falling down into the hole, each yelling.

"And to do that we need to take you apart and fiddle around till your powers are part of him." Nickleson finished. He smirked one last time before walls came out and separated the room up, leaving the still captured Titans alone and somewhat confused.

Downstairs however, the men landed uncomfortably into a pile of what seemed to be whole skeletons and corpses, painfully. Off the power blocking apparatus of the tables, their abilities had been returned to them.

"Why can't they ever give us lifts? Why is it always a drop?" Gauntlet shouted. "And why were WE singled out?!" He demanded. "I feel cheapened!" Getting to his feet, he dusted himself off and charged out his namesake weapon just to check it still worked.

"That is something we won't find out till we actually get back up there and kick his ass." Cyborg commented, helping up Scalpel. "You okay?"

"Yes, just stay there..." He pulled himself up and lined up his shoulder to Cyborg's torso. There was a pause as he pulled back, leaving an expression of confusion of the faces of the two young super heroes, only realising what Scalpel did when he slammed his shoulder forward into his friend's metal torso. With a bit of a crunch, said body part was back in place, but boy did it hurt. "Thanks." He stated, patting the chest of Cyborg while the young alien tried to regain his composure.

"Ow!" Gauntlet called before pulling out a leaflet. "Perhaps chiropractors might be your way forward?" He handed the note on the bone specialists to Scalpel, who just looked at strangely. He laughed a little before straightening.

"Where are we?" Rob continued talking, looking around. He looked up at the wall and saw there was a huge scratch carved into it. Using the light on his shoulder, Victor lit up the indentation only to realize it was a word.

"Oh shit."

"Hello boys." A voice called.

Vanity.

* * *

Jedi: Finished! GAH! This chapter took forever! Man! It was long! 


	20. Humanity: Fake Progress

Flashing Lights and Sounds

By Jedi-and

Disclaimer: I do not own TT, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide, but I DO own my own characters.

* * *

Chapter 20: Fake Progress

* * *

What was the creature Vanity?

Well, roughly six years ago, a young girl named Sally was winning beauty contest after beauty contest, not so much for any reason because she was one of the world's loveliest ten year olds. She had looks, charms and enough personal awareness to use that to her advantage. She had been even Little Miss Jump City a few years ago. Her parents, caught up in the frenzy that child beauty pageants could inspire, used what money they had to try and make her more and more beautiful; the most expensive make up, the most fashionable clothes, the best of personal trainers, everything a girl like her could want…

Yet she still wasn't happy…because she wanted more. And one must be careful with blind desire, because it can lead to truly terrible things…

Puberty set in. Her body changed and her centre of balance was thrown off, which meant that she could no longer do the gymnastics for her act like she had done to win most of her previous awards. Then spots came, though she desperately tried to hide them. And then something else, and something else. Being told by many people that you are perfect when you are young can never led to good things, and it didn't here. Having found she wasn't as attractive as she wanted to be, she started to pay people to help her, from plastic surgeons to dieticians. She had everyone by her side to try and make herself more beautiful to at least try and regain some of her former glory.

It never happened. Sally may have had the knowledge to know how to use her looks to get what she wanted, but her wisdom didn't expend to the fact that anything involving so called 'professional beauty' was a giant meat grinder that chewed up and spat out people like her, dozens and dozens, never needing to save any as there were always more, all believing their looks could bring them happiness. But human beings are far too complicated to be happy on such a simple thing. And when you cannot learn to master such complications…bad things happen. And they did to Sally.

Then she disappeared.

Just faded from existence. She didn't have many friends, but the ones she did have eventually noticed that she wasn't there. People started to look for her, with no luck. Her parents couldn't do anything, as they too didn't know were she was, nor could they even give a place to start looking. The Missing Person's Bureau also searched, but all that had been left was her hair band, and it failed to provide any leads. Sally had ceased to exist.

And the world, in the way it did, continued to spin on its axis, seemingly content that a relatively attractive young woman had disappeared. It had more important matters, and so it and people moved on, and she was forgotten about.

Until today.

"It's rude to come into a ladies room without permission." Sally, now known as Vanity, chastised as she stalked towards her prey. The room was dark and messy, akin to the bottom of a sewer or basement. Dirt (and possibly worse) had washed into the room, while blood smears spread across the walls and floors. The men backed up a little, hoping they didn't have to fight this thing unless she had to. It didn't share their hesitation, as it limped in towards them. The shadows almost seemed to recede as the creature came from the darkness, each step from its massive legs sending off a boom of noise from the ground.

"Um... We...er... We're sorry for falling in here! Perhaps if you could help us find a door out of here, then we'll just be on our way!" Cyborg stammered/yelled, hopping that it would distract her somewhat. He wasn't scared, by the way: he just couldn't find the right words. Her knew from her conversations with the other Titans that Vanity still possessed some of her human side, and maybe by appealing to it, they might be able to get out of here with nothing more than their pride damaged.

Of course I don't think I need to tell you if it worked or not, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Of course it didn't work. What? You're surprised? This WOULD be a very short chapter if it had worked...

"I may be kind to the beautiful women on your team, but you are undeserving. You are revolting men who would take advantage of a girl like me!" Vanity snapped, as she moved forward a little more, backing the Titans further and further against the adjacent wall, the men slipping up ever so slightly on each bit of congealed blood that lay on the floor, assumingly, HOPEFULLY, from the raw meat they seemed to feed her.

And then they ran out of room.

Vanity just smiled as Cyborg's metallic back touched the rusted steel walls behind him. No room left to back up.

"Um, perhaps you would be interested in a trip to a health spar?" Gauntlet asked, pulling another leaflet from his back pocket. "It helped Marge Simpson!"

She just screamed and charged.

"Great. Titans! Go!" Cyborg shouted. Scalpel dashed one way while Gauntlet peeled off the other way, leaving the metallic teen to run straight down the middle. Thankfully, Vanity wasn't expecting such a bold move, and became confused quickly, though her rage began rising just as quick. The three weaved in and out of her remaining limbs to confuse her, which worked, as half of her body tried to turn one way while the other half tried to latch and grab onto the Titans the other side. Such scrambled commands rarely work in any effective way, and by the time she had gotten her head sorted out, the men were at the other end of the room, searching for a way out.

Only to come across nothing.

"They've locked the damn doors!"

"And we can not ascend upwards." Scalpel stated, looking up at their drop point. Apart from the fact it was quite the way up, the gap from which they had fallen into Vanity's chamber had closed.

"Looks like we'll have to wait till someone opens the door..." Gauntlet replied. He knocked lightly on the wall. "Hello? Pizza Delivery for the High Priest..."

There was a pause.

"You didn't actually expect that to work did you?" Cyborg asked.

"Well knowing this author, I'd say no..."

"Quick! We can make it though where the fourth wall was!" Scalpel shouted, pointing in a random direction.

That didn't work either, and before they could try something else, the open palm of Vanity came crashing down in between them, the massive monster having finally turned herself around and gone on the offensive again, which once again sent the Titans to try and find a new way out. Which would not be easy as Vanity was amongst them and probably not as prone to confusion again. In the end, the Titans had to fight: it would be better NOT to fight the thing head on, but they had no choice.

What made things harder was they were all ground based Titans: Vanity had heavy armor on her underside and they had nothing to get higher up. After a few ineffective ground blows from a sonic cannon and yellow energy rams and blades, Scalpel tried to climb up the walls, but his claws just slid off the rusted metal construct. So they were all forced to run across the muddy, dirty floor that would, as mentioned, look wonderfully at home in a sewer, but unfortunately, trying the same plan twice backfired, as the insect leg lanced out sideways, clotheslining Scalpel, as the other hind leg kicked back, smashing Cyborg into Gauntlet, making the pair roll across the ground. The two quickly got up, only to be knocked back down again as Scalpel was thrown into them at an alarmingly high speed. Having had people, especially their own, thrown at them before, the Titans fell onto their backs just as Scalpel struck and rolled him, using the alien's momentum to push him up and over them, as they kicked back up as if they were in a martial arts movie. This wasn't done in an offensive matter though, but rather a recuperative one, as Scalpel hit the ground rolling, but he was able to use the momentum given to him to spin back to his feet, actually rolling on his head a little before he finally landed heavily on the ground, his metallic feet clanging against the metal construct that lay beneath the mud. And he stood up, after that rather unique pose…

And fell over from being dizzy.

"Not a cool way to do that." Gauntlet stated.

"At least you didn't say hip, or I'd think we might have regressed back into the 50's." Cyborg replied.

"Well I can say that. I can't say what's going on now, as I can't understand it. I mean, Shizzle? What the fizzle is that all about?" Gauntlet stated, throwing his arms upwards in mock confusion.

Unfortunately, it wasn't long before Vanity decided to get into the act once again, rushing forward and attacking, not letting anything get in her way. The pair of Cyborg and Gauntlet quickly darted, once again, to each side of her, faster than they had done before…however, this time, she lashed out in all directions to try and stop them. Fortunately it didn't work, as she hit just a few centimetres short of her targets.

That was a small comfort though, as Vanity had decided she was going to get serious, and she had an idea, as she readjusted her position, thrust her legs out, and lifted her massive body off the ground. Now suspended upon the walls by her legs, she decided that she was going to use this new found ability to cling onto things.

So she ascended.

She went up and disappeared into the shadows above them, as the lights in the room were set in the floor, and they weren't very strong, as they didn't fill up the whole room with light, only the bottom half, leaving a good deal of space at the top with no illumination at all. It was enough to hide Vanity anyway, though that always seemed the case: there was enough shadow to hide a creature with malicious intent. Always.

All there was to comfort the Titans was utter silence. And it wasn't much of a comfort.

"Ok, this CAN'T be good." Cyborg said.

* * *

Things weren't going too well for the 'rejected' Titans, but upstairs it wasn't much better.

And I know that being chased by a huge monster girl who looked like a blonde rejected villain from one of Koji Suzuki's films, who in turn was grafted to the frame of a boss monster from one of the Resident Evil games, wasn't the same as being strapped to a table, but you'll see why in a moment…

(Oh wait, don't recognize the name? Well most wouldn't, however you should know him as one of his films was remade a few years ago, a little horror film called The Ring. It was a wonderful piece of horror literature alongside a darn good movie, in its original form anyway. Unfortunately the Americans tried to change it to appeal more to their demographic, which rather than the cerebral horror that the Japanese use to really mess with your head, is a more kind of jumpy horror, a horror that builds you up and up and even up again until they hit you with a fake wall…from which you relax and then they hit you with the horror 'brick' anyway. One scene that demonstrates this is that the Japanese show Sadako, the Japanese young girl, coming out of the TV in several, slow continuous shots so the suspense could build up under your skin so much so that you can not take the pressure and mentally break down, in a small sense anyway, while the American version of the girl, Samara, comes out of the TV, and seems to jump across the room towards her victim in lots of short, quick movements to help create a lot of shock horror, not letting you recover from one 'horror brick' before they begin hitting you with the second one, and maybe a third one as well. I personally prefer the Japanese version, but that is just personal preference.

I'm on a tangent again aren't I?

"Yes! Now get back with the plot!" The cast of Flashing Lights and Sounds shouted.

Alright, alright, I'm going.)

Anyway, upstairs. the other Titans, the ones who had been deemed useful by their captors, remained shackled to the table on which they had awoken, each one chosen for their own reason, yet a reason that remained similar: they were chosen for the one thing that helped them to become super heroes, their powers.

And so each room sealed itself off, and the men and women who formed one of America's most premier superhero team were split up into their own divisions, in which each would be worked on a certain way for certain things and so on. And they didn't like it one bit.

Savior had by now dropped into what some Titans might called his 'dangerous' rage. Having known Noel Collins for a while now, most of the Titans that Savior had several expressions of anger. There was his 'annoyed' rage, which was usually directed towards Gauntlet or the Titans playing jokes on him and was usually halfhearted and not serious. There was his 'teacher' rage, where he would get mad and attempt to use the anger to try and explain or teach someone something. There was his 'righteous' rage, which was usually spurred by villains doing bad things like targeting innocents and blowing up buildings. There was his 'frenzy' rage, which was immensely rare but happened at times, where Noel would go berserk and attempt to trash anything that got in his way, including his teammates. There were a few more. And then there was his 'dangerous' rage, the dark side of his righteous rage, in which Noel's anger essentially became super-condensed and so potent it almost became a weapon unto itself. The good news was with the right situation, this anger could be calmed and stopped without anything happening. The bad news was, if Noel managed to affix a target for his dangerous rage, there was literal hell to pay for whatever had set into his crosshairs.

And with the Titans all tied up and helpless, the odds of the perilous fury that was coursing through Noel's veins being stemmed was unlikely, to say the least.

"Tell me the truth, High priest, and answer the condemned a few simple questions if we are all going to form some... 'Greater good'." Savior spat, as Dr Nickleson slowly stepped towards him. He was doing so so he could taunt the white Titan some more: people who inspired dangerous rages rarely understood what they had awoken until it was too late.

"Well, your obvious distaste aside, I may as well reveal to you my true plans." He paused and raised a brow. "Even though it seems all the villains who do that fail, and if that is the case it will probably only get me incarcerated in one of your many pleasant insane asylums. Then again, the leader of the 'Way of Peace' rebellion didn't get much recognition either, even though he stopped some of the most powerful foes of his era." Nickleson said, his expression remaining the picture of a calm melancholy as he continued to speak to the white haired teenager, his voice holding its higher, noble tone and not letting any of his emotions be revealed via any pitch changes in his voice.

"Very astute of you." Noel replied.

"Well, unlike all of your previous foes, you will not have the privilege of putting me in jail. As you see, I am here for a higher purpose, and will not spend my life in some cell to rot away. No I will not, and I know this to be true."

"Been there, heard that, bought the T-Shirt and thrown it out." Savior snarked.

"Yes, as much as I would like you to believe me in your heart and soul, I know that will not happen. So I will have to make you believe the only way you know how, and that is to show you, as that is the one and only way in which you believe things."

"My girlfriend is half demon. I don't have to see it to believe that." Savior spat again.

"Yes, but you haven't tried to make love to a god in your bed, and god knows where else, have you? I mean, you'd settle for bending over and screwing some demon whore over a counter, yet you won't taste the true forbidden fruits of this world."

Wrong thing to say, as Savior tried to lash out at this comment, only to once again be reminded that he was well and truly fastened to the table.

"Still as human as ever."

"Untie me and you can see how HUMAN YOU ARE!" Savior screamed, trying to demand the Shimmer to work, trying to will it, force it to just get up and smash this guy's teeth so far down his throat that he would have to sit on food to eat it. Of course, these demands were just returned to sender, as the Shimmer didn't seem to be home at the moment. Or rather it was home, just locked in a closet.

"Touchy." Nickleson calmly replied. The good doctor pulled a knife from his belt and dragged it along the edge of the table, scratching and scraping the surface. "But even after you refuse that I show you the sights that no one else can offer, I wish to explain my plan to someone. Sitting comfortably?"

"I would say no, but it's not like you'd make me any more so." Savior replied, glaring daggers at him.

"On the contrary, I would have. but seeing as you have acted like that, I think I may not."

"Well, D'OH." Savior said, saying Homer Simpson's annoyed grunt of a word like he couldn't give a damn if Nickleson poured barbeque sauce on his head and uncorked a box of fire ants.

"As I was saying, I was watching you as you fought the Lord of the Night. Very interesting stuff. He turned a huge chunk of the Sahara desert into a glass covered creator, yet you still managed to survive his assaults." He smirked to himself. "And then Whim. What a lovely example of power. A power you also thwarted. You, when so many others mightier then you could not." Another smirk. "These two incidents started me thinking, how could you have twice bested a god?" He continued to circle the table. "And that reason, my friend, is only because you have the powers of a god."

"Perhaps, but I have the heart of a human. That is what undid the false messiahs that the Lord and Whim were. We won against great odds because of our humanity, not in the way se supposedly touch on the traits of the messianic. I am but a man." Savior growled.

"Only on your own, but combined you could be unbeatable." Nickleson said. He paused and started to pick at his fingernails with the knife.

"How did you know how to strike?" Savior said, changing the subject.

"Ah, he asks a question. It has been so long since someone wanted to know my secrets." The doctor pushed himself off the table and continued walking. "A few years after I came across you, or rather a few years after you came across Gauntlet, I ran into a pair of super heroes in a place a little north of here, known as Canada."

"Oh look, you said the name correctly. I was sure you could call it Canandia." Savior replied.

"Don't be lippy child!" Nickleson said, as he quickly slashed the knife towards the temporary leader of the Titans, anger passing over the empty gaze he usually wore. "You're a valued part of our god, but you are not THAT valuable."

"Then watch what you say about my girlfriend." Savior said, glaring, before Nickleson's face returned to normal and he gave a shrug.

"Touché'. I suppose I did deserve that." He simply stated, and continued. "Well, I saw they were strong enough and gullible enough to believe any dribble I spoke about a true evil group down south. And of course, being headstrong and eager to prove themselves against something more then petty gangs and thugs, they bought it whole-heartedly. I didn't expect that damn freakshow member of yours to be there though. One of the few things I had not anticipated."

There was another subtle pause, until it dawned on Savior.

"Myth and Charm." He said, his voice thinking back to the battles they had with them.

"Yes, those were their names, quite a nice pair actually. Brother and sister both fighting for truth, justice, and to get their name in big lights."

"What did you tell them?" Noel demanded, as the face of Nickleson seemed to lighten up into a smirk.

"Exactly what they wanted to hear. I told them that a supervillain group known as the Teen Titans were in Jump City, Florida, and I borrowed a line from a Billy Connolly stand up saying if they did it right they would have their names in big, albeit pink, letters." He placed a hand to his jaw. "Now that I think about it, Myth had bargained for his name to be in blue."

"Cut the crap! What else did you say?" Savior snarled. He never much liked manipulation, especially when it involved his group in some sense, and his anger was starting to flare up from the 'black hole' state it was in.

"Nothing. Some people in Canada haven't really heard of you, especially two under-appreciated young superheroes who just want to be loved, accepted and most of all famous." He snorted lightly. "A little leverage and the right application of knowledge and you can do anything to anyone. "

"So you twisted and distorted the views of two honest, hardworking people until they fit your agenda?"

"No, no, no my dear boy, no. They were always fulfilling my agenda, they just didn't realize it at the time." Dr Nickleson laughed to himself, becoming more relaxed with his own, dare I say, diabolical scheme.

"Right. Fuck you were much, Andy Warhol." Savior muttered. "Well, it didn't work obviously. Instead of capturing us, we defeated them. And in the process you turned a hero into a villain…you son of a bitch!"

The doctor raised a brow at the sudden raised voice and at Savior as he tried to piece the puzzle together himself. Unfortunately, it was like trying to put a square block in a round hole, so to speak.

"Again you jump to conclusions." Nickleson shook his head. "I did not expect victory, even with the HIVE backing them up. The simple fact of the matter is that they were there to test you."

"Test us?"

"Do I have to explain this as well? And you call yourself the smart one." Nickleson sighed as he rubbed his brow with his thumb and index finger, the smile at his own genius turning into a scowl of displeasure as he had to, in a metaphysical sense, sit Savior down and explain to him what he was doing. "Why do you think I got two superheroes? It wasn't to capture you, as I did that on my own accord. No, it was to see which ones of you deserved to be part of my god, pure and simple. We used the information from the microchips planted inside of Charm and her oh so gullible brother to find that out. They only deactivated a week ago. Forgive us for being so cliché covert about this, but it's better to be prepared."

Savior did the mental arithmetic: if the chips only deactivated a week ago it meant that Charm had had it on all the time she was dating Gar.

"I see, so you are methodical in your insanity."

"Methodical, not insane." He continued. "What good would it have been if I had a load of superheroes if their powers didn't mesh together well, or worse, prove to be counter-productive? I chose those three friends of yours to go because one didn't seem to heal properly or swim, despite his obvious advantages, but they were still outweighed by those factors. The second one was composed mostly of technology, and obsolete parts to boot, and the last one has a magical artefact that can't be removed from his finger. None of them are of any use to us." He stated. "However, we will gain whatever battle data we can from their fight with Vanity downstairs."

"Vanity?" Savior replied, with just a hint of a squawk, suddenly worried for his teammates' health.

"Yes. When making something as powerful as a god, mistakes tend to be made, and unfortunately Vanity was one of those mistakes. In an attempt to reanimate the body of a young woman in order to use for our god project, we found her mind was still intact. However, it had slowed to slightly less than normal capacity. Also, her own body started to fall apart, so in a desperate attempt to save her and the project, we grafted her onto the frame which you see now. She was one of seven failures, each gaining a name to coincide with the sin they most represent."

"You sick bastard."

"You are really going to enjoy what I am about to say next."

"What?"

"She was also..."

Before he could finish his words, a small alarm went off, little blue lights flashing in the rooms as he got paged.

"Hmmmm. A situation." Nickleson said. "It seems I will have to leave you at a cliffhanger there my young patriot. I am needed elsewhere; you however are allowed to watch your dear, not so sweet, not so innocent young girlfriend as she gets 'purified' before she becomes part of the god." Nickleson reached into one of his various pockets and pulled out a small device with a small round button on it. "People sometimes call me sadistic, but I just enjoy teasing others with the pleasures…and pains, of flesh." He pressed the button and the wall retracted back into the ceiling, and suddenly Savior could see Raven lying on her slab, as tools and equipment started to be placed upon the different trays around her.

He looked into her eyes, as her face didn't reflect anything. She was keeping, or at least trying to keep her composure, refusing to let them win by begging. But her eyes were different. Over the last few days she has had some strange moments, but this latest one had made her insides churn.

"Everyone ready for a beautiful song and dance?" Came a lilting voice, as the longhaired, pretty boy first disciple came into view. It was the great teacher who had placed knockout gas all throughout their tower. Savior could feel his intense rage, kept down at the moment for tactical purposes, that to buzz and rumble, critical mass beginning, as Raven's eyes continued to plead to him. He fought with his anger: it wouldn't help him at the moment. But at the same time…what was going on? Raven was nearly impossible to rattle, much less scare. He tried to think what they would do to her, as she had obviously figured it out. But what could it be, her powers were not physical, but...

Then he realized and a look of pure horror came across his face.

The man was going to remove his girlfriend's brain.

* * *

"Where are you?" Cyborg muttered to himself as he tirelessly searched the room, hoping that logic would win out and that he would be able to see such a gigantic creature. Unfortunately, the rules of horror movies had apparently decided to pop in again and start applying themselves, as the 'monster', despite being huge, had escaped them for the time being, and no matter how much they looked up with the flashlight that was strapped to his shoulder, they couldn't see her anywhere. There was nothing. Even with all his gadgets and doodads scanning they couldn't spot her.

"I really, really am not fond of these situations." Nigel stated as he tried to find her by sound. This was just as unsuccessful. Whatever she had done, it had made her untraceable. And they knew that such a thing was going to end badly. They remembered all the times they joked about the horror movies, how that the villains of such shape and size in movies and games wouldn't be able to move at that pace or with that level of stealth, but they were wrong.

Looks CAN be deceiving. The Titans would get a truly first hand look at such deception in the future, but that would not be for a while…

"Maybe your gear is busted?" Gauntlet asked, pulling out yet another leaflet from his back pocket. "If so, I suggest the PC Doctor." He continued as he handed it to Victor, who just looked puzzled.

"Where are you getting all these from?"

"Uh…You don't need to know were I am getting these leaflets from." Gauntlet said, as he waved his hand in front of his friend's face.

"I kind of do."

"You DON'T need to know were I am getting these leaflets from."

"This isn't Star Wars."

"True, but the classics theatres down the road from the tower are showing the re-mastered versions of all three Star Wars movies. Here's a leaflet on it."

Cyborg facevaulted.

And, of course happening at the best possible time, Vanity's lone insect limb came down to try and skew Cyborg…only it missed and crashed down in between Gauntlet and Scalpel. She quickly learned of her mistake and retracted the limb back into the darkness. This little surprise woke up the men as they jumped, and then turned so that they were covering each other backs, each facing away from the other, as they once again renewed their search for Vanity.

The group started slowly, moving around the room at a quieter pace. Each step, each breath, was soft and hushed, as none of them wanted to be the next target. It was a survival game, and if we were going by numbers then the Titans SHOULD have had the advantage, but we are going by other things as well, and some of those were size and defence. At least she wasn't hugely strong, it was just proportional to her size, and so was everything else.

All the Titans needed was an opening or two.

And as luck would have it, they got it, as Vanity tried the same trick twice. Cyborg spun away from the attempted gutting and fired upwards, his sonic cannon hitting the creature square in the chest, or at least where the chest would be, lighting up part of the ceiling a little. Gauntlet leapt in, his artefact whirling into action, his mindset in that of a warrior, or as much of a warrior mindset as he could ever muster. He reached up and snapped a yellow energy field over and around one of the limbs that had dare to attack him, and pulled against it as hard as he could. The colossal form shifted visually, as the only reason Vanity was even able to stay up there was because her limbs held her in place, and having them pulled was not a good thing, for her at least. The yellow energy of the Gauntlet glowed slightly, outlining the form of Vanity in a yellow line.

In an almighty test of the artefact's strength, Gauntlet tugged at her, forcing her down a little. Unfortunately though, the Gauntlet wasn't a ultra powerful piece of equipment. It wasn't as strong as a Green Lantern ring, and hence it had its flaws. One of them was that the ring could do anything if the wielder put his mind to it and had the necessary mental discipline; Gauntlet's armour and energy field could only do so much. It had a tonnage limit, it couldn't make complicated shapes, and the gauntlet's yellow energy worked both ways. She may have been captured and held by this power, but she still weighed nearly 20 times what Gauntlet did, and that was enough, as she pulled her limb and Gauntlet came with it. He deactivated the power quickly and, as he flew towards the wall, he reactivated it into a cushion for him to strike, and then shoved off it before he jumped back down to the ground. Despite his stance being broken, Vanity was now off-balance, allowing another opening as she tried to right herself without falling down to the ground. Scalpel jumped up and brought his claw down on the limb, digging in deep, even as he reached into his bandages and felt around. He knew that his life often required backup plans, and hence he had hid something in his bandages, just in case he was captured and his captors tried to take most of his weapons off of him. He pulled out a small handle from within the white ropes and pressed the button on it. Most Blacktrinian weapons were concealed in a small piece of metal to form a larger weapon, and this was no exception as the tube unfolded to form a jagged machete like blade. He brought the blade down hard onto the edge of the limb, hacking at the soft joint but not getting much penetration. He was shaken off and landed awkwardly before he corrected his fall and dove towards the others.

"We need to do something, but what can we do?" Cyborg asked himself, pondering. He wasn't a fantastic leader, but he defiantly felt he had what it took. He was just a different leader than Robin or Savior. Robin always used to put his team first and he wouldn't risk their lives unless he had too, Noel on the other hand, thought the Titans knew the risks of the quest they had signed up for and hence did whatever had to be done, no matter the peril or cost. Cyborg was neither a front line general or a back line general; he was a fighter and he tried to look out for those around him. He grimaced; though he chafed under them at times, it was so much simpler when he was being given orders. But neither of his leaders were here, so now Cyborg had to do the thinking.

Thinking…it went both ways. Maybe they could stop Vanity from thinking all together, as it would be relying on some form of brain. Not so much kill it as interrupt the thought process…and then he realized that the only reason this thing had a thought process was because a young woman was strapped to it. This gave him pause. What would their leaders do? On the one hand, Noel would try and take her apart, saving the young woman from the monster if possible. On the other side was Robin; he would probably wrap her up so she couldn't escape and then let the police process her.

Well, he was neither, so it was door number 3: make it up as he went along!

Opening a panel on his back, he pulled out some industrial towing cable from within him and looped it around his fist lightly before he fired it off his forearm, with an accuracy only his mechanical eyes could muster, into the darkness. There was a moment, where his heart fell, as the cable started to fall and sag, which meant he'd missed the mark…or did he?

The line went taunt. Success. If it had been a god like creature, it would have missed and given his plan away, but it wasn't, it was only a creature. He had finally managed to get a line around it and the group pulled against the rope.

"NO!" Vanity bellowed as she tried to strike the wire, only to find that her immense strength couldn't actually break it. As I said, her strength was proportional to her size, and this thin piece of wire could have held up a suspension bridge for a few hours. She then tried to pull it, only to find that on the other end was a half robot, a Old One artefact user, and an alien who had decided that they were not going anywhere. And so, Rob, Victor, and Nigel, using themselves as the anchor, pulled her down as if they were the tug of war team from hell.

She finally slipped, her eyes bugging out as she tried to gain some sort of purchase on the wall, only to find the leg she needed the most was the one the Titans had ripped off. Without the ability to grab hold of any of the walls successfully, she gradually slid down as the boys continued to drag her. Running out of wall she decided to just drop. Yes, that would work: the sudden loss of resistance would send the boys back into a pile on the floor, where she could strike them.

But this time her luck had turned around. It seemed to dislike plans, no matter whose they were and this time when she let go of the walls, the lads pulled on the wire rope at the exact same time, making her spin and fall on her back. Vanity didn't seem to know what was happening until it was too late: Cyborg had started to run around her as Gauntlet fired off his energy field and pulled her legs close together above her. Vanity tried to get up, only to have a smiling face looking into her own.

"Morning." Scalpel said, as he tapped on her forehead lightly, agitating the young woman, making her shove out with her human arm to try and push him away. He just sidestepped the sluggish reach and clamped something around her wrist. It was cold and metallic, but it wasn't sharp at all. Then she heard a ratcheting sound, and she looked at her wrist as he pulled it down. Another ratcheting sound was heard. He had handcuffed her to one of the water pipes that lined the room.

"Sorry to do this to a young lady like yourself, but it has to be done." Scalpel said, and jumped away as she tried to wiggle free of the handcuff, her long shapely fingers and well defined hand not making it through the thin gap.

While she was distracted with that however, the other two had finished tying up her legs using the industrial cable that had been utilized to yank her down. By the time she had comprehended the entirety of her situation, she wasn't going anywhere. She tried to struggle against it anyway, but it was very strong. She might be able to break it, eventually though, so the boys made their way around the room, trying to find out where the door might have been. Tapping, looking, pounding, prying they searched for the door.

"Can you find it?" Rob asked, trying to pull off a panel of the wall in search of the elusive exit.

"I'LL GET YOU ALL FOR THIS!" Vanity screamed in rage.

"Yeah, yeah." Rob replied as he managed to pull off a metal panel, only to find heavy brickwork behind it. Several yellow energy blows barely produced a few cracks. He sweat-dropped: when this cult went to build something, they really didn't mess around. The search was getting hopeless.

"ANYTHING AT ALL!" Cyborg shouted, having resorting to his 'Blast and hope' technique. This, as with Rob's idea to try and rip off the wall panels, and Scalpel's idea to tap to find the hollow panel, wasn't working. Five minutes of struggling, two minutes of shouting and a few more curses later, they started to give up. This day, as with many others, was not going their way.

They returned to the centre of the room to try their next plan, to climb up towards where they had come in to see if they could break through, and so, with Cyborg on the bottom, Gauntlet in middle, and Scalpel at top on a Gauntlet-made energy platform, they tried to pry open the roof with the machete that the alien brought with him. But it was so small in size when folded up, the Blacktrinian metal was negated, making it weaker than the average weapon. Which they found out when Scalpel had put all his weight into trying to force the roof open, only to have the weapon snap and make him lose his balance, causing him to fall off the platform and onto the floor, taking the other two with him. Vanity would have chuckled lightly, if she weren't so busy trying to break free.

"All right, maybe we should try digging?" Gauntlet asked in the pile.

"Knowing our luck, even if that worked we'd end up in China." Cyborg replied.

"I do not understand that human phrase." Scalpel commented. "They insinuate that if you started digging anywhere you would end up in China, but this is not true, even if you could somehow get through all the molten and ultra-dense rock and metals of the inside of the Earth, chances are you would end up at the bottom of one of the oceans. To actually end up in China, you would have to start digging at…"

A loud click interrupted Scalpel before he could continue espousing on the 'dig to China' metaphor. The echo around the room made it hard to see where it was, but a light that was brighter than the inside of their would-be-tomb appeared as a panel of the wall started to rise up, causing the Titans to be quickly drawn to it, like moths to a light on a dark evening. The three wandered over to the door, Scalpel dropping his broken weapon before following. It was strange that after all their efforts it took for them to get out and trying to find a door to do so, a door just appeared, and after all the effort it took their captors to actually place the three Titans in the cell, it seemed highly strange that would be so irresponsible to suddenly leave a door unlocked. All in all, it didn't make a lot of sense at the time.

"Hey guys." Gauntlet piped up as the group made their way over to the door, slowing slightly.

"Yeah?"

"When was the last time we heard any sound from Vanity?"

The group stopped and turned around.

She was gone.

"Oh SH-!"

Cyborg didn't get to finish, as an explosion of noise came from the living Sin as she shot from the ceiling, screeching and screaming like something possessed, as all three Titans bolted for the door. It was a melee of dodges and lunges, a piece that almost seemed choreographed as Vanity slashed and swung outwards, her limbs flailing and her mind overcome by pure rage as the animal took over, forcing the Titans to jump, duck, dodge, dive and even trip over her attacks to make it halfway across the room to the other side.

All three Titans dove for the door, in the hopes that it would lead them to salvation. Gauntlet dove through first, having to roll out the way as Scalpel dove himself, skidding/turning on the metal as he leapt for and out the door. Cyborg just made it out before he turned to shut the door. Unfortunately Vanity had managed to get a hand in through the opening, preventing it from closing, as the boys all ran up to the entry that had been opened and began to push.

"Stay in there!" Cyborg shouted as Gauntlet stepped back and wound up to batter the door with his yellow energy. However, he was beaten to the punch as a green energy blast collided with the outer surface of the creature's skin, causing it to shout before another three blasts drove the limb back, allowing the men to finally shut the door. They slid down against the side of the door as it locked in place, a scream of 'No' coming from the other side as the 'rejected' Titans rested a little, looking up to see who had helped rescue them.

"Hey." Gauntlet said, smiling a little. "Took you long enough."

* * *

Upstairs, things had not only slowed down, they had come to a near standstill as the 'High Disciple' was mentally preparing himself for the upcoming event where he would try and find out the centre of Raven's power. He liked his work, quite a bit actually, but even then, as he relaxed himself, he was a bit annoyed by the fact he didn't know where her powers stemmed from exactly, and while it would be nice to have something more concrete about the centre of her abilities, even if he carved her into ribbons and found nothing it wouldn't matter. One failure could be overlooked. Besides, he had a plan.

"Now before we begin to look at the glory of the innards to the human body, I wish but one thing my dear." Pretty Boy said, as he examined a scalpel. Savior, still working at his restraints, had dubbed the disciple "Bish", after Bishonen, the term for effeminate anime men that sent an annoying amount of girls into a squealing frenzy. Savior had a feeling the disciple's outer beauty hid an intense inner rot. He'd seen that Jekyll and Hyde situation too often.

"Yes?" Raven asked, not showing a whit of fear in her voice.

"Which is your best side?" He asked simply.

"My what?" She asked bluntly, now becoming more and more confused as the day, or night, wore on. She couldn't tell what time it was any more, and the spell of unconsciousness and the windowless room didn't help them in any way.

"Now, don't be coy." Bish said, and then with a blur of movement, he slashed out the scalpel. Raven snarled/yelled through her teeth as he sliced a line of blood across her bare shin. "Nobody likes a cocktease."

"I'll cocktease YOU." Savior growled, as his rational part of his brain told him there was no way Savior was getting free unless he suddenly developed Plasmius level flesh manipulation powers, while his emotional side kept telling his rational side to shut up, because it WOULD get free and then they'd be consequences.

"I'm not talking to you. This lovely is the focus of my attention…so pretty…I wonder if your insides will be so beautiful." Bish said, as he stepped away from Raven. "Now, just in case my ten magical digits cannot work their charm on your wonderfully beautiful viscera, I will be recording the whole operation on the camera that will so be with us." And indeed, Bish had set up a fancy home video recorder on a pedestal nearby, aiming it so Raven was perfectly framed.

"Why do I get the feeling you do this for more than just a job?" Raven commented, trying to ignore the stinging burn on her leg and the feeling of her blood running down it.

"Careful what you say hun, he is the one with the knife and the golden hair, though I'd be more afraid of the hair." Savior replied. Even with this atmosphere of an impending doom, Savior still had enough tactical wherewithal to try to undermine the confidence and the abilities of the rogue surgeon that stood over them like a death shroud, maybe to give them a little bit of an edge, or at least delay the operation: each second Bish was getting mad was a second that he wasn't cutting.

Or so Savior gambled. Wrong.

"Silence!" The disciple cried, in almost a beautifully effeminate voice. It would have seemed to almost float on the air, if it wasn't so high pitched that it felt like a screwdriver trying to undo your eardrum without much need for an aesthetic.

But Savior could live with the pretty boy who was apparently being voiced by Paul McGann (And let's see if any of you can place who THAT is): what he couldn't live with was the fact that Bish immediately slashed out the scalpel again, slashing another line of blood across Raven's knee. She hissed again, though she did not cry out. Savior's eyes narrowed.

"Your slander shall not work on me, as I know my purpose. I MUST fulfil the needs of my master, for he believes in a higher plan."

"Then where is your master?"

"In a place you may, nay, can not reach him."

"Are you sure he isn't just running scared?"

"He has nothing to fear from you! He WILL make the greatest being ever to come upon this earth since the Lord of the Night!" Bish shouted, his light voice being given an edge of strength but it still carried that feathery quality. He wasn't exactly the type whgo could inspire indimidation, but the fact that he had Raven tied down and seemingly helpless made him think he didn't need anything like that. To emphasize that point, he slashed Raven across the leg again, cutting deeper. Raven, again, held her tongue: she would not give this twisted sadist the slightest bit of satisfaction. Savior did not.

"STOP. DOING. THAT." Savior growled in his best intimidation tone. Batman would have been proud. Bish was not impressed: the whole tied down and helpless thing got in the way.

"Oh? Why would I do that?" He smirked.

"Because if you stop now, I promise I will deliver you to the authorities with a minimum of injuries." Savior replied.

"Oh really." Bish replied.

And then he grabbed Raven's leg, shove it to the side a bit, and jammed the scalpel into her into thigh. Raven's eyes went as wide as they could, but she did not cry out, did not scream…and she continued to fight it as the disciple began slicing up her inner leg, blood coating his hand. Her teeth seemed ready to shatter, but she held in her pain, as the disciple finished his slice…and then twisted the blade before he yanked it out. A tiny, barely audible cry escaped from Raven. That was enough, as the discplie grinned and faced Savior again, his scalpel and hand dripping blood on the ground.

"The next time you threaten, malign, or mock me again, I will insert this right up into her uterus. Her genitals are not required." Bish said, and as if to emphasize the point he turned and punched Raven right in said genitals. There was probably a whole bunch of imagery of this scene that spoke of Bish's own psychosis, but Noel didn't much care: all he heard was the gasp of Raven's breath escaping from her teeth, and the blood flowing from her legs that was starting to drip on the floor.

In the film _Total Recall_, an exceptionally (almost ridiculously) gory Arnold Schwarzenegger action film, near the end Arnold's character is strapped into restraints, and then a brief exchange of dialogue results in one of the villains, played by the great character actor Michael Ironside, punching Arnold in the face when he is helpless. The look Arnold's character gives Ironside's after the blow is perhaps one of the greatest looks of righteous anger and "Oh, you are going to REGRET fucking with me" ever placed on film. And indeed, his look proves prophetic, as the ones behind his restraints meet some of the most unpleasant deaths movie villains have ever suffered. To find out just what though, you'll have to see the movie.

Because Savior's face was channelling Arnold's with it's expression of boiling rage and promises of righteous vengeance. A look that was totally lost on Bish: some psychotics are impossible to terrify in their element, and Bish was in his.

Despite the look though, Savior was at a loss. He couldn't figure out how to get out of his restraints, as more tools were brought as Bish fiddled with the camera, the one brought, as he said, to witness this 'magical' event just in case something went wrong. Satisfied with the picture, he collected a syringe from his new tools and inserted it into Raven's arm, giving her some local anaesthesia so she would not scream during the serious operation, but so she was still conscious, and capable of feeling pain during the beginning stages. True, the pain might drive her mad and wreck her brain, but they can always find another Raven-esque power source. The Titans all being in one place at one time was what made them the targets: they were convenient.

Yes, everything was falling into place for them. They had had lots of failed attempts before at making a creature with enough power for their god. Vanity had been the greatest success so far, but Vanity would be nothing to this creature once it had been finished. Vanity, the creature that had beem such a problem to the Titans, would be nothing more than a bug towards this creature. He laughed to himself. Even the Lord would have nothing on it, or him, or her depending.

It was unfortunate that Bish had never really looked into what had happened out in the Sahara desert when the Titans and Young Justice fought against the omnipotent being know as the Lord of the Night, but he had been told that it was a great showdown between the super heroes and the most ultimate of super villain, and that they had won through perseverance and their combined efforts. What Nickleson hadn't told them was that it was only because the Titans hadn't so much fought and beat the Lord as they had kept him in one place where dawn was much closer then it had been in their city, barely holding on through what was left of the night and right through till dawn, where the unimaginable power of the sun that had finally proven to be the Lord of the Night's undoing. He may have had the power of the night, able to call upon all darkness as his power source, and all the bells and whistles that came with such things, but he also had all of its weaknesses, and one of them was the fact that the night was always chased away by the day, and the day defeated by the night in one continuous movement, and because the sun got the first move, the Lord was destroyed, purified out of existence…only to be spoken of, in a whispered farewell, months later by the spirit of Murdercrow, the personification of grief and sorrow. Raven replayed the words in her mind.

_"Hell? Death? Silly Titans…the Lord is BEYOND death. You can't kill something like it! Like him."_

And indeed…

But Raven stopped there. She didn't need to do any more thinking in that vein. She knew the end result. One Lord was bad enough. She would rather go to hell and spend all eternity in the company of her father than help make another monster with that level of power.

And so she had spent the last minutes contemplating what she could do, even through Bish's knife torture. And since she couldn't gamble on help, inside or outside…there was one last thing that could hinder their efforts. It was a technique she had learned to do, just as an extreme last ditch measure. She could send a spell into her brain and turn it into ash, killing her instantly. Even with the power blocker on, she could do it: she had tested herself for that very possibility. All she would have to say is a few very short, very dangerous words of power and it would be over.

But…even that wasn't a real solution, as her eyes cast towards her long time boyfriend. Her death would only mean they would move onto him all the more quickly. And it would be a lot easier to extract what they needed from him, as his power was more tangible, and once they had the Shimmer, if they could get it under their control, their options multiplied greatly. With the Shimmer's unique 'bodyjacking' ability, the energy able to hook up to people's nervous systems like one computer to another, they would be able to take anything from anyone. Including knowledge, experience, and powers in themselves. And on top of that, Savior would have to endure not only the agonizing physical pain of the operation, but the terrible emotional pain that his love had killed herself to save him…

And then she felt Bish's scalpel on her forehead.

"Now…I'm not wholly sure on where to start…" Bish said, as he began to slowly trace down her forehead to where the Chakra was. It hurt, but compeered to some of the things she had endured it was nothing, and she would gladly go through this to give Noel enough time to figure a way out.

She shouldn't have thought that.

"But no matter what happens, I may as well take a souvenir to start." Bish laughed.

And then he pressed down hard, slicing down through the skin and muscle on the side of her chakra. Raven tried to gasp as she felt the scalpel blade press against the bone of her skull and grind in, as Bish began to carve the chakra out of her forehead like she was a Christmas turkey. Blood began to run into her eyes and down her face, as the pain grew, and grew, but she could not scream, would not make a sound, she would endure, she would not give this bastard any satisfaction, even as he sliced down her forehead, having cut about halfway down. She could feel the blade scraping against the bone, but she would not, WOULD NOT scream…

And in truth, Bish was admittedly a tad bit annoyed at Raven's strength: what fun was exploring if his efforts weren't appreciated? Well, she might be holding out, but that wouldn't last long, and for now, he'd settle for the reaction of her male friend, as he glanced over to Savior…

And found, much to his surprise, the last thing he expected: Savior wasn't even LOOKING. He was laying still, his muscles as taunt as wires, but his head was turned away from Raven towards the ceiling and his eyes closed tightly.

"What is wrong? Can you not bear to see the magnificence of glory that lies within this person?" Bish said, as his blade withdrew itself from Raven's skull. The forehead of a person had a lot of small closely packed blood vessels, and as a result forehead cuts bled like crazy. Raven's face was by now a mask of blood, but the fact that she was still holding out on him and the fact that Savior wasn't even watching took away any satisfaction Bish could have.

Aggravated, Bish stepped away from Raven and headed for Savior. If he had to, he'd cut Savior's eyelids off and lock his head in place with restraints so he couldn't turn away.

"What's the problem? This is such magnificence! WHY WON'T YOU LOOK?" Bish yelled in Savior's face, as he brought the scalpel up.

"I…can't…" Savior growled through clenched teeth. "I'm…concentrating…"

Bish's scalpel froze. He was concentrating? On what? His powers were blocked by the restraints, what could he be doing…

And indeed, Savior had hit on something. Savior was helpless. But Savior was composed of two parts.

And he knew how to do division.

A gigantic flash filled the room, blinding Bish, and as he stumbled back Savior disappeared. His form was replaced by Noel Collins, the long haired redhead looking up as his eyes snapped open.

Once, long ago, Savior had had his talent, the Shimmer, ripped from him by Trigon, Raven's father, against his will, a violation that had caused him utter agony. But Savior always learned from his experiences, no matter how horrible, and he had had an epiphany a few moments ago. If an outsider could pull out the Shimmer, then Savior could damn sure separate it from himself of his own free will…and he'd put everything in his attempt.

And he'd been successful. The Shimmer was loose.

Indeed, Savior, or rather just Noel now, had not only stumbled onto a solution, he'd also used his captor's own equipment against them: because of the power blocker, once the Shimmer had been compulsorily separated from Noel's nervous system, it was forced outwards, triggering a variation of Noel's transformation that had made it into a separate entity.

However, like Vanity, without a mind to control it, it was going wild. It had been theorized that the Shimmer possessed some level of sentience, awareness of the world and itself, but exactly how much of a mind it had had always theorized to be minimal. This basic consciousness was probably why the Shimmer stayed bonded to Noel, following his orders and doing the best to protect its host: it might be able to survive on its own, but not for long. But unlike last time, it was aware that it had been separated from its master, it's 'Daddy' for a reason. And while its consciousness was nominal, it had enough to follow the order Noel had given it: GET US OUT OF HERE. BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

And what Daddy commanded, the good son obeyed, as best it could. It had enough awareness to know who Raven was, that 'Daddy' cared deeply for her, that she was 'Mommy' so to speak. However, it didn't recognize the 'mean man' who was hurting 'Mommy' and therefore attacked with a vengeance.

With almost a scraping, squealing noise, it lashed out to all corners of the room, a mass of violent lines of powerful energy, knocking over trays and smashing through the walls like they were made of paper. Bish had recoiled away from the Shimmer when it had emerged and hence only took a glancing blow that hurled him into a corner, where he lay, his eyes filled with terror, even as the Shimmer started ripping through the walls. There was almost a pause as the disciples who had been contracted to work on the other Titans stared in pure horror at what was happening. If they had been interested, they could have learned the identity of Savior, but their attention was drawn to a more pressing matter: the now freed Shimmer, which was continuing to go nuts. They couldn't even check later, for while Bish had set up a camera with the intent to show the mastery of his surgical skills to the world, the camera had just been focussed on Raven, and not Noel.

And that was the least of their problems, as assistants ran for their lives to try and get out because the Shimmer had only paused a little in its attack before it lashed out with more tendrils, whipping wildly through the rooms. One assistant was sent reeling into the wall face first, leaving him unconscious, while another was lifted up and thrown into the air, only to land heavily on his neck. The crack could not be heard over the screaming, as more assistants were whipped, lashed, thrown and mauled by the Shimmer 'child'. One disciple decided to act fast and slashed out with his knife, knowing that when the Shimmer was cut when wielded by Savior, it rendered him near useless.

When Savior wielded it, not when it had no body to send the pain too, so all the disciple did was get the energy's attention. Despite possessing no face of any kind, the power almost seemed to be glaring daggers as the other tendrils fired out, at speeds the disciple could barely register and lifted him, throwing him through the heavy metal and glass doors that exited out of the section the Titans had been brought to, sending anyone nearby screaming and running for guards. The door was near the end of the Shimmer's first circuit, as it came back to where Noel was restrained. One final task was needed, and the Shimmer did it, as it lashed out and ripped the table apart, destroying the power blocker, and then it slowed to a stop, resting upon Noel's stomach and chest as a bright, white bed sheet, and with another white flash, the Savior we all know and love was back.

He sprang off the ruined table and ran over to Raven. With a gesture he ripped the restraints from her table, even as two Shimmer strands grabbed a white towel and moved over to the still standing camera, for some reason. While the strand fiddled with it, Savior wordlessly try to help Raven, who seemed dazed and drugged.

And then Savior's head snapped to the sound of a roar next door, and he readied himself just in case, only to have what remained of a Shimmer ravaged wall smashed through and ripped down as the ground contracted and shifted to remove the broke pieces, revealing Terra and Beast Boy, standing there and both looking pissed. While Bish had been toying with Raven, they too had started being prepared for surgery: Savior noted the IV drip in Terra's arm. In the course of its destruction, the Shimmer had followed its command to get its master free, and part of that following had been to search for the life signs of people it knew, people it had hooked up to without its father wanting harm to result. To use the same terms as before, it had managed to sense 'Auntie Terra' and 'Uncle Beastboy' , and so it had found them and broke one free before on in its destructive rampage.

"Dude, I'm so going to hurt whoever comes near me with a knife again." Beast Boy said, as he turned back into a human from the gorilla he had used to tear down the wall. It would have been almost comical if Noel's mood wasn't as dark as the Lord's outfit. The two teens picked up upon this quickly and fell back quietly as Savior turned back to Raven, trying to staunch the flow of blood from her head.

"Will you be okay?" He asked, as he took the towel away. Despite her blood smeared face, she nodded solemnly: due to the fact that the injected drugs were now effecting her mind and her concentration, if you also don't count the fact that they tried to operate on her while she was still conscious, which took its toll on you…

Movement caught Savior's eye, and he turned to see the tail of a man disappearing out the door of the room. But that small glimpse was all Savior had to see to recognize who it was. Bish had escaped the Shimmer rampage where so many of his fellows had not, and now he was on the run.

There was that Schwarzenegger look again…

"Are you ok?" Savior asked Beast Boy.

"Pretty much…" Beast Boy said, but Noel had already forgotten him: he was now looking at Terra.

"Are you ok?"

"I'll live."

Savior looked back at Raven, who was pressing the towel to her forehead again, and then he pushed off from the table and stalked off, placing something the Shimmer gave him into the inside of his jacket pocket.

"Beast Boy, you're in charge! Find the others and then find a way out of this place!" Savior snapped.

"What? Dude, I'm not a leader! Where are you going?"

"UNFINISHED BUSINESS." Savior snarled as he stalked out of the door and out through the corridor out of the section, which Bish had fled down moments earlier.

The alarms were going off as the Titan stalked down the corridor, hunting the sadistic Legolas-wannabe disciple who dared to touch his girlfriend like he had. Normally, he would have regretted that in the course of its running amok, the Shimmer had killed a few disciples, but not now. He didn't care about them, he didn't care if more of the followers threw themselves at him, he didn't care if they attacked him with everything they had. No one got away with harming Raven, not the Lord, not the White Hole, no one.

And indeed, cult members were heading towards him, armed with various hand held weapons. Savior didn't slow his stride.

"You have two choices." He snapped as he headed towards them. "Get out of my way, or GET HURT."

The group didn't slow. Savior's eyes narrowed again.

One swung at him with a club: The Shimmer battered him into a wall. Another attacked: The Shimmer grabbed him and yanked his weapon down, putting his head level with Savior's leg as he slashed his foot across the disciple's face and then immediately yanked it back to slam his heel across the other side, feeling bones break under the blow. The third came at him with his own kick: Savior grabbed him with the Shimmer and swung him around back first into a wall. The forth punched at him with a taser: The Shimmer grabbed his arm and yanked him to Savior who used his momentum to spin around and introduce the disciple's face to another wall. The fifth had a gun: a few seconds later he had no gun as Savior yanked it away and hurled the disciple over his head. The Shimmer brought the gun to Savior's hand, and he shot several of the following disciples in their knees and feet as the Shimmer took care of the others Savior wasn't shooting. Spilling around a corrider, Savior emptied the remaining bullets in the clip and used the Shimmer to hurl the empty gun into the last disciple's face, stalking on.

But because of this murderous mindset, he didn't notice that the corrider he'd gone around had a door at the corner, a door at his back that had noiselessly swung open, revealing a new large group of heavily armed guards that were coming up behind him, and unlike the variedly armed disciples, these guards were all armed with guns in one hand and combat knifes or tasers in the other.

They were on him with no time left to spare. Savior only sensed their presence and managed to turn around in time to see them leap at him…

And be stopped in their tracks just as easily as a bo whirled out and came down upon a series of heads, destroying helmets and cracking skulls.

Savior stepped back as the lean, athletic form tore into the second group of guards, disarming another before it unfurling four, green gloved fingers, each pair holding a small disk in between them, before a sharp, quick flick of the wrist threw them, two of them exploding and throwing members of the assault force back, while the last one froze one solid up to the waistline. A quick series of bo strikes finished the stragglers, as the figure solidified from the flurry of activity, the dust settling around him from the stone work that lay under his feet. Boots clad with a protective metallic covering.

"He went that way." Robin stated, pointing one green hand down towards the way Savior had been going, at an up and coming T-Junction, indicating that he had taken the left path. "Better catch him before he finds a way out of here."

Robin raised his bo again and slammed it down on the guard that had managed to break out of the ice, almost standing guard, ready to fight anything that came his way. He got his wish as more guards made their way out the door their original fellows had come from. "Don't make me hit you with this stick to get you moving Savior." He stated calmly, smirking slightly as he raised his weapon of choice. Noel let the breath he had been holding out through his nostrils and nodded, before dashing off the way he was pointed. Robin looked back and prepared himself, weapon in hand, as a group of at least 20 armed men, and fairly big armed men, headed for him. Robin tuted to himself. "When will they learn that it doesn't matter how many of them you have, it's how well you train the henchmen."

Isn't it the truth? How many times have we seen in movies and such where you have thousands of henchmen, only for all of them to be beaten by a one solitary, well trained agent? Only to have said agent nearly killed by a lone, very well trained henchman or henchwoman? Admittedly in 007 movies, the villains mainly fail anyway, but in general the well-trained henchman can be a great asset, a lot more so than their lesser trained, worthless counterparts. Unfortunately when creating this cult, Nickleson did think about that but not in enough detail. His head minion was trained in the arts of surgery and in defending himself from thugs, not defending himself from unhappy metahumans who you had stupidly made watch as you tried to cut open his girlfriend.

So now Bish was running for his life as he pushed past empty chairs in a cafeteria, their occupants had run away in fear, not wanting to cross one of the most physiologically dangerous Titans, and one of the more physically dangerous ones as well.

"HEY!" Came a yell, and Bish turned just in time to see Savior heading through the cafeteria entrance. Bish didn't waste time watching, he turned and ran down the latest corridor. Two guards ran past him, heading for Savior, but he doubted they would last long, as he ran through the latest door and stopped. He heard loud, violent sounds as he hammered at the control panel, finally managing to close the door. With that done, he sprinted down the latest corridor, which was very long.

A horrendous noise sounded behind behind, and Bish turned to see the door being peeled inward, ripped apart by a fearsome power. He gasped and kept running, stopping at the latest T-Junction…and remembering where he was.

And getting an idea. He'd show that crazy metahuman who was superior!

Bish ran down the left corridor again, as Savior emerged from the ruined door and continued on. He'd been said to have worn the look of one of Arnold's characters before, and now he continued on like he was another of the actor's most famous creations: The Terminator.

* * *

"And that brings the grand total to twenty." Robin said, as the last man fell backwards, landing heavily on his fallen comrades, who in turn were lying on more of their fallen comrades. It had been relatively easy for the Teen Wonder to disperse of the group. Maybe when they first formed the Titans he would have a little more difficulty doing this, however as time had gone on he had moved up from the ranks of sidekick to a hero in his own right, and deservedly so. With the clear-cut exception of these last few weeks, he has been a model hero for all teenagers everywhere. He was quick, powerful and had enough knowledge to knock down even the largest foes with his strikes and kicks.

He put his bo away calmly and dusted off his sleeve; however he didn't move. He just waited there as if he was part of a bus queue. We would soon find out why: as the sound of boots, feet and other appendages came from the door that the armed goons that had attacked him had emerged from. They weren't more guards though: the sounds were too varied for that. Robin knew who they were. While he had been searching out information on what was happening here, Starfire had gone down to the lower levels to help the three Titans down there escape a fate that they were undeserving of, even though in the back of his mind he knew that Noel would beg him to leave Gauntlet in there for a few more rounds with Vanity.

Speaking of Noel, more sets of footsteps were coming from the corridor he had emerged from in his pursuit of the pretty boy he seemed to have a major mad on for. Robin was sure he had his reasons. With one set of footsteps coming from one direction and another set coming from the other, within a matter of seconds the Teen Titans, minus Noel, were there and waiting.

"Robin, dude! When did you get back?" Beast Boy asked, somewhat hesitant of their ex-leader.

"I got back when I got a call for help." He glanced knowingly at Starfire, who smiled back. After Sophie helped the alien girl to escape from Titan Tower, she quickly got onto her communicator and called Robin…only to find he wasn't answering. So she decided to fly to Gotham in search of him. After the pair tirelessly searched and found nothing (and considering the city was in a mess after a gigantic gang war) they came up with a plan to get their attention. Sophie was 'Attacked' by Starfire, and no sooner had she let out her effeminate scream then the Dark Knight himself had appeared, and while his expression remained stoic as ever, you could tell he was still somewhat confused at this.

They explained that they would have used the Bat-Signal, except there didn't seem to be a Bat-Signal any more and all the cops seemed extremely mad to see her, basically kicking her out. What Starfire didn't know was that Batman, and Robin, as well as others of the Batman 'family', had been caught up in a gigantic war of criminals that had inadvertently been caused by one of Batman's former associates. The war had had a horrific cost, for not only had that former associate lost her life in the battles, the police had been turned against Batman and instituted a "shoot on sight" policy for any masked vigilantes. Not to mention the criminal mastermind Roman Sionis, better known as Black Mask, had risen to power in the chaos to control ALL of Gotham's crime. But that was not part of our story…

And so once they had found the Dark Knight's apprentice (and luckingly just before he was about to leave Gotham as well, planning to head to Bludhaven down the road) they explained to him the situation of what was actually happening. They talked about the attack by Vanity on the city, and how the Tower had been booby-trapped to fill up with gas to knock them unconscious, and how they managed to get out using luck. As the hero finished listening to what was being said, Robin wasted no time in getting up and grabbing his gear. He wasn't going to let the team he had worked so hard to make into the best young adult team in the world fall apart because of a madman's ideals. Even IF they had kicked him off it.

And so here he was: Starfire and he had dropped Sophie back at the tower to wait (but unfortunately forgot to let her in) and raced over to where Noel was. As for how they knew where Savior was, well, that was because that the white haired Titan was so paranoid that he had a homing device inserted into, not only his boots, but his shirt, his jacket and even in his hair, though that one might have been knocked out (it usually was). When they had arrived on the site, which happened to be on an island, they found the bunker underneath to be surprisingly large, housing a lot of things that most people wouldn't have seen in comics, let alone on the surface, and after breaking in (hence calling Nickleson away for his 'situation' earlier), this is were the duo of Robin and Starfire split up, one going after Noel and information, the other going after the Titans that had been dropped in more than one sense of the word. How did they know that they had been dropped? Well, Savior was so paranoid he hadn't just bugged himself, he'd bugged all his team-mates as well. You wonder just how much time Noel spends plotting against the plots of others…

"Well then, we better go stop Savior before he decides to murder the pretty boy." Raven said, her head still bleeding. Scalpel would have gone over and dealt with it, however he was trying his hardest to keep out of sight, or at least Robin's eye view. He was now back on the team, against Robin's original orders and he didn't want to cause any trouble so maybe he'd just slip away before anything happens.

"That might be a good idea. As well as finding an exit. Come on." Robin said, and turned to head down the corridor, the Titans with him. Robin headed around the corner…and found a slight problem: the path split again. And Savior had left no indication which way he had gone. So Robin was forced to decide on a route, and decided that since the disciple Noel had been stalking clearly wanted to get away, he must have headed for the exit, which Robin knew, and took. What Robin didn't know was that in his panic the disciple had gone the wrong way, and Savior had cut him off before he could double back, forcing the pair deeper into the base, while Robin and the Titans began making their way out of it.

"How do you know this is the exit?" Terra asked.

"Trust me." Robin replied.

"We could always blast our way out if Fearless here is off in his assession." Cyborg said.

"I doubt that. I don't know what the walls of this place are made off, but they're TOUGH. Superman would have some trouble ripping his way out of here, much less us." Robin said. "In any case, here's the plan..."

Their old leader had only just managed to get that out before Dr Nickleson came out of a hallway halfway down the corridor, looking worried as he tried to get somewhere. Unfortunately, it was face to face with the Titans.

"So there you are!" Terra shouted, as things started to shake. Dr Nickleson snarled harshly. You could almost see the gears turning in his head, as Robin, on instinct, made a hand signal and the Titans obeyed it, forgetting the whole mess that had come, because in the end, Robin was still their first leader, and this was not the time to dispute it, as the teen heroes readied themselves in case he tried something.

"The best laid plans of mice and men are all but lead astray, but no matter for there is more in this heaven and earth than that dear Horatio." The Doctor said out loud, mangling together a Steinbeck and Shakespearean reference before he ran back down the hallway he had gone. The Titans gave chase, as Nickleson vanished into an open door at the end. The Titans quickly followed…

And found themselves in a large room of undetermined use. Nickleson was at a control panel near the end of the room, typing onto it.

"Still in the hunt children? Well then, I guess I'll have to do something about that!" Nickleson said. Rob would have commented on how it looked like he was pressing control, alt and delete from where he was stood, but he never got the chance, as the snarly expression on Nickleson's face turned into a smirk.

"You see dear 'donors', I may have not gotten your powers but I always anticipate such things, and while it is not complete without you, I still have the shell of a god." He said, as he pressed one last key and then quickly took off down the corridor right next to the keyboard. The Titans began a quick pursuit…

And then the floor exploded from in front of them. The Titans recoiled, even as a massive black pod pushed itself from underneath the ground and then split open, filling the room with a foul smelling smoke. The door behind Nickleson slammed shut, and then several other doors did likewise, but the Titans couldn't see that, as they recovered from the surprise to look upon what was before them.

Standing in their way was a humanoid shaped creature, standing, at best, five foot eleven in height with a relatively athletic build. It was, as I said, humanoid, however it was a rather off shade of bluish green and had patches of skintone here and there rather than being all one colour. The hands were like mittens rather than segmented fingers, almost as if the appendages had not finished forming yet. It had no hair, pale eyes, no nose, and a mouth so thin it seemed virtually invisible. It rather looked like a mannequin from a shop window.

"The thing that would be king." Cyborg said, as he armed his sonic cannon.

"Careful Titans! We don't know what it's capable of!" Robin said, even as he snapped out his bo.

"Dude, it's just a shell!" Beast Boy said, as he became a bear. "How hard could it…"

The Incomplete God was suddenly among them which such speed the Titans could barely react. Raven was the first target, but she managed to save herself with a warp…as the God punched the metal wall and buried its arm into it right up to the shoulder. Robin goggled at the power: those walls were not only thick, but made of extremely strong metal, some kind of titanium special mix. You can't just punch through a wall like that like it's made of paper…

And then it was among them again. The Titans scattered, barely avoiding its deadly punches, as Robin pulled out some explosive disks from his belt and threw them at a velocity and accuracy that would make darts players and ninja blush with embarrassment at their own failings. However, this wasn't enough as it just dodged to the side as if there was nothing to be afraid of, before raising its palm and firing off a mammoth of a blast towards the Titans, who all managed to dodge and yet were tossed aside like rag dolls from the shockwave, the blast striking another wall and blowing right through it and beyond.

Fear came to the Titans, harsh and strong. How could they best something like this? They might be able to, but with such power, it would surely get more of them before they could get it…

* * *

Bish knew fear too, because something was definitely trying to get him. He had fled all the way down to the deepest depths of the base, and Savior had been on his heels the whole time. But, as he turned the final corner, he knew that he had finally won. Before him was a large, heavily armoured door. Bish knew the code to get in. And as the head disciple, he knew what to do when he got in, as he ran up to the door and began pressing keys, smirking…

"Hey, Pigeon" Savior called lightly, as his shadow appeared on the corner Bish had just run around. "If you stop running now, I promise I'll just break one limb."

"You stay right there!" Bish yelled.

"Oh really…and why would I do that?" Savior said, as he turned around the corner. "Well well, dead end. How fitting."

Bish was terrified, but he managed to keep pressing keys, as he finally finished keying in the code. He heard the beeping as it was accepted and the doors prepared to be opened.

"Yes it is! FOR YOU!" Bish cackled. "You see, Vanity might have been our best creation until now, but you should have known from her name she wasn't the only one! Behind these doors are the OTHER six Sins! Your team could barely handle one: what chance do you think you have against six?" He laughed. The door was starting to open. "You think you're so powerful, well, these creatures will show you power! Once they've rent you apart and devoured your remains, we'll use them on your friends! It will be marvellous!"

And then the cloud washed over the head disciple, an incredibly noxious gas that nearly made him throw up on the spot, so thick and foul that it swarmed over him and then over Savior, taking the metahuman from his sight, but Bish didn't care, as he turned around. His commands would not only open the main door, but the door to the containers as well. And they were programmed to obey his commands, a privilege only he and Nickleson shared, and a privilege he would use, as he waited to hear the roar of wrath, the moan of lust, the gurgle of gluttony, the laugh of greed, the sigh of envy and the yawn of sloth…

But all he heard was a liquid noise.

"…What?" He said.

And then it hit him, the terrible rush of fluid around his feet and ankles, nearly knocking him down, as the stench increased even more. Bish somehow managed to throw up as he staggered forward, not comprehending. Where were the Sins? Where was his army to destroy Savior? He couldn't see anything with this foul putrid gas, as he staggered forward, waving his arms…and finally getting a clear enough view to see what was covering the ground.

Blood.

"…What?" Bish said again.

And then, finally, the gases inside the chamber cleared, finally revealing what lay within: Six massive chambers, part cage and part tube, holding what had once been six fearsome monsters. Six very dead monsters, which was where all the blood had come from.

"No…" Bish said, not believing what had happened. Somewhere along the line, someone (or some thing) had pressed the final failsafe on the 'Sin' projects, for if they were ever caught making these creatures, and if any and all the crimes were ever linked to them, they had a failsafe that would cause the simultaneous destruction of the six spare 'Sins' so their human 'personas' could never reveal who they were or what was happening in this organization. This was a brutal procedure as long, sharp spikes would descend from all around the cage and piece the sins, none of whom would be able to protect themselves. Now, even as genetic failsafes within them caused them to begin to dissolve, Bish looked at them, still not believing.

Something popped in the chamber closest to him, and Bish yelped and stumbled back.

Right back into something. And it wasn't a wall.

Bish turned and then recoiled away from Savior, who said nothing, his eyes fixed on him. The pretty boy stumbled and then fell down into the blood that still pooled on the ground, no longer caring about that because he had a far more serious problem. He had never realized that his need to show off his talents to an audience would come back to haunt him. It never had before. But now karma was paying it all back at once, as Bish backed up until he had bakced himself into a corner between a wall and one of the chambers, trapping him, and Savior was closing in, and he looked like he would break every bone in his beautiful body. Hell, he looked like that would be the first thing he would do, as the disciple cowered, holding up his arms in futile protection, and screaming like a baby when a firm grip seized his wrist.

And a click brought him out of his fear.

As Savior yanked him up, pulling his arm behind him and using the Shimmer to bring his other wrist to the first, as he yanked closed the new plastic restraints that some police departments used instead of handcuffs.

"By the authority of the Jump City Police Department, I am authorized to make arrests." Savior said, as he pulled a badge from somewhere in the folds of his jacket and waved it at Bish before putting it away. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you…"

Bish could only stare in utter shock as Savior Mirandaized him.

"Do you understand these rights as laid out to you?" Savior finished.

"Why aren't you killing me?" Bish said incredulously.

Savior looked at him, and then he smirked. But in that smirk was such an incredible coldness that Bish nearly wet himself.

"Kill you? My dear little cruel, cowardly sadist…why would I want to do that?" Savior said, as he went into his jacket again. His fingers came back with a small, black rectangular object, aka the video from the movie camera.

"Thanks for taping it all. It'll make great evidence when you get put away for twenty years. I bet you'll be REAL popular in prison." He paused before turning, a Shimmer loop coiling around the cuffs so he could escort his prisoner with him. "And a little lesson for you buddy. Anyone can tie down and slice a helpless woman and be called a sadist. It takes a true ARTIST to be CRUEL. You remember that during your repeated anal violations, pretty boy."

The mental pictures just scared him beyond belief.

* * *

The second blast threw all the Titans back against the neighbouring wall with such force it nearly knocked all of them out. As the teenagers scrambled up, trying to stave off the terrible power of Incomplete God, it made Raven wonder how they managed to survive all those fights within the confines of their home, as the corridors and rooms were not that much bigger…and it appeared that even that little difference could be all that was needed, as the Incomplete God charged up for another blast. The Titans didn't have enough time to dodge, and none of them had the shielding to protect against such power, as the entity pushed its palm forward-

And melted.

There was no slow breakdown of the being, nor was there any great explosion, it just melted. Like if someone had a tub of ice-cream, let it melt, the removed the sides of the tub, or even poured out a bucket of water onto the ground. It just... melted, falling apart before the Titans.

It was so sudden none of them could speak for several seconds.

"In true internet speak, WTF?" Gauntlet shouted from the back of the group. Cyborg was still staring, and then a slight smile came to his face.

"It was an Incomplete God." Cyborg said, managing to help the others slowly to their feet as Scalpel looked over the puddle. "Key word being INCOMPLETE."

"It could not hold its genetic bonds." Scalpel said. The Titans looked at him, puzzled. "You know the molecule models you humans have? Well it would be like me suddenly taking out all the adjoining rods at once. It can no longer hold it shape and hence collapses." He stated.

"Great. What should we do about Dr Nickleson?" Terra asked

"We'll catch up to him in a minute, how far could he go in one day?" Robin asked, shrugging. "Now let's find Savior." As if on cue, as if it had been written in some cosmic script, Noel soon walked out, pretty boy in tow and in handcuffs.

"…I guess I missed something?" He asked calmly, with an unimpressed expression on his features. The Titans stared at him. "Yes?"

"Um…Savior…?" Beast Boy asked, and gave a vague gesture towards the teen. Savior interpreted it: why is the pretty boy who tortured your girlfriend in restraints and unharmed when he should be in an interesting new shape for a pretzel?

"Oh, surely you didn't think I was going to KILL him, did you?" Savior asked, as he let go of his prisoner and lightly batted him on the back of his head. "Why don't you tell them why you're still alive, pretty boy?"

All Bish could do was weep.

* * *

"Fresh air! Sunshine!" Gauntlet shouted as the final group of Titans made their way out of the hidden bunker. They found that, despite the time it would have taken to get there, the Titans were on some form of small island. They could see the coast, but they couldn't tell what the coast was, but they were pretty sure it was America, they had a feeling it was. Besides, Rob joked he could see a pair of Mc Donald's and a Starbucks next to each other.

"Did we get everyone?" Cyborg asked, sucking in a deep amount of air into his lungs, happy to get the smell of Vanity's quarters out of his nostrils.

"No, some managed to escape." Nigel stated as he continued to fix the open wound of Raven's head. The odd bit of seething and jerking implicated that it hurt a lot, despite what she had already been through. He applied the last antiseptic swab to the wound before he put a rough dressing over it. He would do a lot better when he got back to the tower, but for now this would hold. He mused as when he was in the war, he considered himself lucky when he only had to deal with minor cuts and bruises. These priests may have been clever, very intellectual indeed, however they were dumb enough not to have any real heavy hitters. He knew one thing though, he felt as if Robin's eyes were burning in the back of his head. He had avoided looking in his direction for most of the 'round up' however when he stole a glance over, Robin wasn't looking at him, but in a totally different direction. He breathed a sigh of relief and finished up with his quick clean and sew on Raven's head.

"Yeah, and I know who. Nickleson and Vanity." Terra scowled unpleasantly. "I knew we should have drilled through that door and gone after him."

"Well, it doesn't matter. Even if they escaped, they won't get far. I don't know where either of them could have gone, but I doubt it was alone. Besides, who is going to miss a two story high monster and a mad scientist riding it?" Robin joked turning his head slightly. "Now we have to get off this island."

Silence.

"Um…Robin…" Savior said, as he dumped the by now passed Bish in the sand next to him. "How did you get here in the first place?"

"Starfire flew me."

Silence.

"So you left the T-Ship behind KNOWING…"

"Oh come off it Savior." Terra snapped. "They were in a hurry, SORRRRYYY if they couldn't think of everything."

"Well young lady, I won't fault them for their lack of omnipresence, but this still leaves us the problem of how we can all get off this island. We have prisoners, lots of them. You want to rip the island off the ground and try to carry us all for who knows how many miles?"

Terra didn't answer that.

"Ok, anyone got a phone?" Savior asked. Starfire passed over her communicator lightly and he flipped it open and pressed a button on it. 'In use of emergencies only' was its description in the manual. The actual button only had three little letter. JLA.

"J'onn? You there? It's Savior." Savior said. Some of the Titans goggled. They always knew Savior had balls of steel, but to call the JLA for something they could deal with given time wasn't really the right thing to do. Even if they were on the wrong coast, they could teleport, jump and fly to land then bus all the way home. It would have been a great road trip.

But Savior had no patience for such things. And until things were sorted out with him, Robin, and Cyborg, he was still the official leader, as a green alien face appeared on his communicator.

"What can I do for you?" The Martian Manhunter asked in his usual calm tone.

"We're stuck on an island due to being kidnapped by bad guys, and we have no transportation home. We need a Javelin." He asked (The Javelins being the long white ships made by Batman for the JLA, if you didn't know). Savior didn't think it was a problem: the JLA HAD massive expanded its roster recently in order to try and aid the world more, and he was sure that they had plenty of the ships, and because of this he expected to get an answer about it soon and an answer that meant he could get out of here ASAP and get into a nice, warm bath, and then out of two day old clothes stained with sweat and monster blood and into his soft, white bathrobe (That Rob had stolen for him from the grand harbour hotel) while he relaxed with a good book in the company of a hot chocolate and his better half, who would poke him in the side every time he turned the pages before she had finished.

A nice dream. But dreams are meant to be broken.

"I am sorry Savior. All the Javelins are in use by our members."

Savior looked somewhat crestfallen, even if it was only slightly. "Please call back in later."

"How much later?" That idea of her and him relaxing really appealed to him at the moment.

"Six hours."

The Titans could only stare in shock, surprised at how many swear words Savior actually knew.

So, after they had managed to calm Noel down, the Titans once again returned to their home, the place where their beds, and more importantly their fridge, were. After all the last time they had eaten was the night before they faced off against Vanity. They were woken up in the morning to fight her, so they missed breakfast, then they came back at about lunchtime and hence were going to get food until their capture prevented that plan. They were unconscious for at least five hours according to Nigel, however that would have meant that night would have started to fall again, but when they got outside and had a look, it was morning, so they must have slept and fought through the night. Then there was the matter of getting back, and so by the time they actually got back to the tower, they had gone a full two days without food. They had considered going to get food, but none of them were carrying any money and the Titans card they owned only worked in Jump City. It was rather amusing as at one point on the island waiting for the Javelin Terra had tried to eat Beast Boy, trying to convince him to turn into a cow with a hungry look in her eyes. He just stated how it convinced him that being a vegetarian helped and turned into a grazing animal in order to eat, like a horse... or a sheep. The ensuing chase of Terra running full pelt after the changeling shouting 'Mint Sauce' lasted and amused the Titans for a little while until the JLA FINALLY came to pick them up. As it turned out, J'onn decided to take pity on them and instead of sending a Javalin down by remote he diverted one of the returning Javelins on which Wonder Woman, The Flash, and the Green Lantern John Stewart had been on a mission in. The looks on their faces when they approached the nine hungry and rather immature acting teenagers didn't really fill them with confidence. They overheard Wonder Woman asking some 'Herra' person if these young adults were actually the Teen Titans or a group of teenagers in makeup who got stranded, and if they were the Titans how utterly irresponsible and inappropriate they were as heroes. Savior had managed to hold back his snarky comeback that the JLA had been lying around unconscious when the Titans had defeated Whim, but the other Titans weren't so restrained, as the exhausted, starving and highly agitated Titans quickly responded by pretending that their trials had tired them to the point that they were having trouble controlling their powers. Onlookers from below pointed as they saw the Javelin doing lots of quick turns as if it was out of control, wondering what was happening inside of it.

They finally made it back to the edge of their city and got off the ship.

"It was good to see you again, even with the ruckus you caused." Stewart chuckled/ laughed, folding his arms. The Titans just stood there and looked somewhat embarrassed, except Savior who looked highly embarrassed.

"So what will become of Nickleson's henchmen?" Starfire asked.

"We've taken the evidence and the criminals back on some other Javelins, however it will still take a while."

"Are you sure you won't need any help?" Robin offered, raising his hand to emphasize his point.

"Nah, it's okay. After all you were nearly cut up to make some sort of supposed 'god'. After that you need a weekend to yourselves. Don't worry about the work though; I'm sure we can recruit some local hero to give us a hand." Green Lantern laughed and thumbed behind him to indicate Wonder Woman, who did not look happy.

"Well thanks again for all your help; I'm sure this won't be the last time we call upon you." Robin said, offering his palm to the Green Lantern, who shook it with a firm handshake.

"Anytime. But be careful next time or you'll end up loosing the fight." The Justice Leaguer commented before waving, as the Javelin took off, its gangplank closing up behind them as John Stewart sat down and did up his safety harness before making sure he was composed. He then took off, shooting away from the place known as Jump City.

"It's good you told them that they shouldn't be so arrogant." Diana Troy spoke up as she co-piloted the craft. Flash was dozing in the back.

"I wasn't speaking to them but to you." He retorted in that strong, and almost harsh tone he had when he wanted to make someone realize what they had done. This made Wonder Woman almost step back in surprise, or she would have if she wasn't sitting down. "They may only be teenagers but they're not dumb rookies Diana. They'll be the ones replacing us one day as people take their mantle as Titans. And don't forget about Whim. Not to mention the Lord of the Night, and you saw what he did to the Sahara Desert." He spoke, lifting his hand off the flightstick every now and again.

"I still do not think they had the right to try and change my mind via their foolishness." She would have folded her arms and pouted, if she wasn't trying to actually win this point.

"You were callous towards them. They may be heroes but they are still only human... most of them anyway." Stewart said. "In a way you got what you asked for: you disrespected them and they disrespected you in turn. You may have incredible powers Diana, but be aware that even you couldn't take on all the Titans on your own. They have come into their own, not because of our shadow or blanket of protection but because of what they have done. They will form a great Justice League one day." And that finished his speech as he waited for a response. He didn't get one, which he was glad with. Yes he may have painted the Titans with a somewhat biased brush, but he did believe every word he had spoken. As long as they didn't rip themselves apart like the other teen super teams did, then they will be just fine.

And so while the Titans made their way back through the city, ordering Pizza and even stopping some crime along the way, a young woman in a smart suit and a butterfly collar paced outside the entrance to Titan Tower as she pulled her large gold pocket watch from her jacket pocket and looked at the time, her worry growing with each step.

"They said they would be back by now." Sophie sighed and continued to pace, placing her pocket watch back in her jacket, or at least she thought so at the time, as it fell. Now usually the chain attached to the pocket watch would stop it from hitting the floor, but the watch was quite heavy and the chain quite cheap, so the chain went tight before the links broke apart, allowing the watch to fall to the ground. She sighed inwardly, annoyed that it was a brand new metal chain that had broken surprisingly quickly. Well she may as well gather it all up and hope for the best, she thought. Maybe she could persuade Cyborg to make her a strong chain?

So, kneeling down she reached out for the main watch itself. Worst comes to worst, she would just have to buy a new chain, no real harm done.

Indeed, no harm done. At least not by the watch.

A lone, shiny, leather shoe came upon the clock face as her fingers were coming close to it, causing her to look up in surprise, her gaze following the ironed in crease of the expensive suit trousers to the matching jacket and waistcoat before finally coming upon the face of her brother, the perfect features now broken and shattered as his face was covered by a clear mask to support his healing nose courtesy of Scalpel. His smile however, wasn't as broken on the inside as it was on the out. It still carried that joyful malice, a kind of happiness he only got when he was toying with people's lives, and once again he had come to interfere with Sophie's.

"Crawling in the mud as you usually do, looking for the scraps from someone else's table, how pathetic. If it wasn't the 'thank god he's dead' grandfather, it's those wannabe heroes, just because you took in one of them for a day. Ooh, the responsibility." He mocked as she tried to back away.

"You have the funeral home, just leave me alone!" She yelled, getting up from the floor.

"I wish I could, oh I wish I could. However our dear mother said to me that it's not nice for someone of our own blood wandering around in ratty clothes so she wants you to come back home."

"Well you can tell her I'm fine where I am. It may not be permanent but it's a darn sight better than my old place." She responded, dusting her knees off lightly. This didn't impress Tony one bit. His hand lashed out and grabbed her wrist, seizing it in what could only be described as a surprisingly strong grip.

"You don't get it do you? You were always the one to go against the way things should be done! Always trying to be independent! When will you get it in that fat head of yours? You won't ever truly escape us! We are after all, family."

Sophie made an attempt to pull her hand free, adding in a "Let me go!" She leaned back in her attempt to escape, much like a young child would to escape their mother's grip in order to look at the toy section. It was in vain though.

"You are coming home if you like it or not and you WILL be happy about it."

"No! You don't control me! This isn't fair!"

"Life isn't, my little sister, it isn't at all." Tony chuckled, as he continued to drag her over to the car he arrived in, one of his many fancy cars, this one a brand new version of the limousine he had before. All her efforts were continuing to be futile, but she tried one last time, using what strength she had to try and break away. Now I know you are asking why doesn't she just turn into bats? Well the problem with that is that she would just turn him into bats as well, and until she learned to control the intricacies of said power, when she turned back into a human again he would still be there holding onto her arm, and hence it would have been a great waste of time and energy. With this last giant tug came the straw that broke the camel's back, as Tony had now had his fill of the insolence, and the outright refusal to see what was obviously best. Even if it was best for only him, it was still the best. He turned to her and lifted his open palm to strike her hard: if he hit her hard enough it would stop her struggling and she would become submissive as she always became if she was hit. He wasn't going to take any chances; he was really pulling back and even balling his fist.

"Ahem."

Tony started and turned, his sister's wrist still in his hand. He saw half the Titans, the first five, staring into his very soul as his eyes bugged out, a frozen snarl of fear and rage on his lips.

"You're not thinking of harming her... are you?" Robin asked, his gaze as intense as always, only that it was somewhat undermined by the video and DVD rentals he was carrying. Tony didn't speak for a moment.

"You'd need not concern yourself with her, she's just a runaway." He spoke, thinking he could just calmly walk away, thinking that he could just say a few sweet words and be on his merry way as always it had been before. He turned to leave, still dragging Sophie in tow, until he once again ran face first into another wall of Titans; this side had all the new ones, including one of them that had been forced to hide behind what seemed to be at least a dozen Pizza boxes.

"A runaway?" Savior asked, rolling his fingers as he stepped forward. "She looks old enough to make her own decisions."

"No, no, she's just a foolish little girl who doesn't know what is the right thing; you know how it is when-"

"Please! Make him let go!" Sophie cried in desperation while cutting him off in mid sentence, still unable to get her wrist from his hands.

"You need to learn your place!" He snarled, as he pulled back to strike at her. All the Titans started, but the only thing to actually make it there in time wasn't the Shimmer, or any projectiles, but a metallic claw that slowly squeezed down upon his wrist like a pneumatic car crusher. You almost expected the claw to hiss slowly. Tony could only open his mouth in pain as the sharp claws started to cut into the arm of the businessman.

"You do not want to do that." Scalpel spoke, his harsh and grating natural accent coming through with the threat, alongside his glowing angry eyes. If you looked at the whole picture, it might have been amusing; he was holding a dozen Pizza's in one hand, and the other man's arm in the other. The 'lord' Mathew let go of his frightened sister, and used all his so called 'Superior' strength to try and force Scalpel away, only to find out that trying to overpower a short chubby civilian and an ex-warrior alien were two different things. Said alien let him go and pushed him over, making sure he lost what little dignity he had left.

"I'll sue you for assault!" Tony yelled from the ground.

"Oh, really? May as well make sure you've got strong grounds." Savior said, and then thrust out his palm, several Shimmer strands slamming into the sides of the car around tony, and he yelped as they closed in slightly, carving deep grooves in his car. "But if you attempt to sue us, we will sue you for attempted kidnapping." Savior added.

"I'm sure the lawyers who owe favours to me would love to rip you a new one." Robin laughed, his arms folded as he continued to gaze at the man who considered himself higher than most of society because of the amount of cash he flaunted. The Titans circled him, and all looked quite eager to do him harm.

"But if you go away now, and never come back we'll let you go with no lawsuits." Nigel spoke, proving him the bigger man as he offered him a chance to leave with his arse still where it was, and not on a platter being handed to its previous owner.

"And all your limbs and organs in the right place." Savior added, proving he wasn't quite as big a man.

"She doesn't want anything to do with you, she doesn't need you nor want your 'help'." Scalpel continued.

"And just think, a lawsuit against the Titans will not do your company a lot of good, no matter the outcome." Cyborg interjected, his arms crossed in front of his chest as well. Scalpel looked at Savior, and Savior pulled away the Shimmer strands.

"But if you choose to bother us, or her, then we will sue, and to use an altered quote from a movie..." Nigel said, and then he grabbed the scruff of Tony's shirt. "You're a scumbag, the people who work for you are scumbags and scumbags see the judge on Monday morning!" Scalpel snapped as he dragged the male Mathews over to the door of the car. "And I'm sure you don't want that, so leave her alone and remember, do what you humans love to say. Don't call us, we'll call you!" He opened the car door and threw him in, allowing him to bounce a little on the soft leather seats.

"Home James." Savior said, knocking on the window of the driver, who quickly became scared and sped off as fast as he could, even though Tony wasn't even buckled in.

"I so hope he gets a speeding ticket on the way home." Terra said, raising her hand to her eye line to watch him go. While they all celebrated their last victory of the evening, Scalpel walked over to Sophie and offered her a hand, smiling lightly. She returned it with a fond smile of her own, a small but very happy smile and her hand, reaching up and taking his.

"So there is a Pizza Delivery Angel after all." She joked lightly to him as she stood up, a joke only he would hear. He blushed somewhat, realizing he did that entire bit with the Pizza's still in one hand. He had a fair amount of grace.

And with that, the Teen Titans, now reunited with their leader and their first alien member, waved goodbye to the meaner of the Mathews as the nicer one stayed with them and helped them gorge out on Pizza and watch movies, taking the weekend to collect themselves.

Or at least that would have been what they did immediately had Savior not been the killjoy he was and suggested they search the Tower in case the cult had left any more surprises for them, like bombs, or a nastier kind of gas, or who knew, maybe they'd broken out Aberration and left him in the basement. The Titans groaned and protested, but Noel was firm, and so the Titans had to spend the following two hours going over their tower with a fine tooth comb.

In the end they turned up nothing, and after much mostly non serious but not entirely cursing out of Noel, the Titans proceeded to do what they wanted to do two paragraphs ago.

All except Robin, who had gone back to his room, as if nothing had changed. Noel sought him out soon after the movies had started, and found Robin sitting at his table where he usually studied clues. But he was doing no such thing at the moment. Instead, he was just sitting there, his mask off, and his arms crossed on the table. He appeared to be deep in thought…and it didn't look good.

"Tim." Noel said.

"I figured you'd come." Tim Drake replied. "I assume you have some problems you need settled?"

"Well…yes Tim. If we don't talk of some things now, the whole mess that led to you leaving could repeat itself." Noel said, as he grabbed a chair and sat down across from Tim. "Now…the obvious. Nigel."

"I still don't much like him, to be honest." Tim replied. "But…these past several weeks…I've been reminded that there are more important things then holding small grudges against people. So…I'll give him a pass and consider him a Titan. For now. I still don't think we've seen all the sides of him Noel, and that could very well be a very bad thing."

"Fair enough." Noel said. "Now, about the leadership…"

"You can keep it if you want Noel…"

"No Tim…I think you should." Noel said. "I tried Tim, I really did…but guiding so many people, and still considering them people…it's not to my expertise. At the least, I think we should hold a vote or something."

"I suppose." Tim replied.

There was silence for a while.

"Tim, I know what happened to your father." Noel said.

Tim looked up at Noel. His eyes were not angry, nor sad, nor accepting, but somehow a combination of all three.

"It was Jean Loring." Tim whispered. Noel looked on uncomprehending. "The Atom's ex wife."

"SHE caused all that?" Noel said incredulously.

"Yes. There was no grand evil scheme though. Nor was she being controlled or possessed. She…just wanted to get back with her ex. But she was too proud to just ask. So…she tried to arrange a scheme, a scheme to scare the superhero community and bring them closer to their families and loved ones…but something went wrong. And in the way humans who cause mistakes like this do, she didn't want to admit her mistake. So she tried to cover it up…and it went deeper, and got more and more out of control…and in the end…my dad…he became part of it. She hired Captain Boomerang to kill him to try and deflect suspicion off herself, and then she mailed him a gun to protect himself with, thinking that Boomerang was a washout who my dad could defend himself against. But…Boomerang got him…the bastard got him…may he burn in hell…" Tim said. "I…I could have been there…but there was this mess in Gotham…and…and…"

Silence again.

"Do you want me to leave you alone?" Noel asked.

"Yes please." Tim replied. Noel got up and headed for the door.

"Just remember Tim…you're never truly alone. Never forget that." Noel said, and left.

Tim's face resumed a level of stoicism, at least for a few seconds.

"Tim…" Kory Anders said as she crept from the shadows. She had come in while Tim was speaking: Noel had not noticed her, and she had kept out of sight until he had left. At the sound of her voice, the stoicism swiftly began to crack, even though Tim was still struggling against that.

"The mess in Gotham was caused by Stephanie Brown. She was a rookie vigilante called the Spoiler. Batman tried her as a Robin, but he felt she couldn't live up to his specifications, and he fired her. But Bats, the old bastard, he just had to screw it in deeper and tell her she couldn't be Spoiler as well. He hurt Stephanie, the way he tends to hurt people when he gets into one of his states, but Stephanie reacted badly. Terribly. She stole a program off his computer, a theorized "war games" in which Batman could take over all the crime in the city and keep in under his control, and she initiated it to prove she could be one of his family. But she didn't know one of the players was one of Batman's pseudonyms, a created identity he used for himself, and without him…the whole plan fell apart and threw Gotham into absolute chaos. And in the end, in trying to regain control…she died Kory. She died a hero, but she died nonetheless. All because of her wanting to prove herself. In that, and Batman's arrogance, she tore it all down. The police are our enemies again, crime is united under one man…and we've all left Batman. At the moment, we can't stand him. Our family is gone, maybe forever." Tim said.

Kory had, by now, crept in close, even as Tim continued speaking.

"Jean just wanted her ex back. And in the process she wanted superheroes to appreciate their families. In the end she shattered several families beyond repair, both in kinship and partnership. She wanted her ex back, and she lost everything in her attempt, and so did we. Including my dad. The Robins before me…Batman himself…all orphans. Now I am too. Both families, gone…just like that…for such STUPID STUPID REASONS…"

Tim finally turned to Kory, and she saw the tears had begun, streaming down his face. She'd never seen Tim cry before, but she knew what to do.

"Oh Tim…" She said.

"You're…the only family…I have left…" Tim got out, and then he sobbed violently. Kory came to him, holding him close, as he wept into her shoulder.

"It's ok Tim."

"I don't…want to lose you…"

"We have lost much…but never each other Tim. And never the Titans. Always us. I promise. I swear to you with all my heart and soul." Kory said.

"I'm…I'm so sorry…for everything…"

"No need Tim. It's okay. It's okay…" Kory said soothingly, as she held her lost lover and tried to give him as much comfort as she could, as he sobbed briefly and then just continued holding her, and she him, in the faint light of the room, as Tim finally let out all the pain he had been holding in and she helped him bear his burden.

They sat there, on the floor, for a long long time.

* * *

And while some Titans relaxed, and others tried to heal, they all seemed safe in the knowledge that they had shut the door and locked it on this particular cult.

But it's surprising what slips through the cracks; even the larger things can find a way through a closed door. It doesn't matter how it does it, but what does matter is where they go. The Titans knew that all they had to do was keep an eye out for this so called 'Doctor' and when he reared his head again, if he reared his head again, then they would descend upon him and whatever organisation he belonged too like a plague.

What they hadn't realized was how far he had gotten, and the possible repercussions of not looking for him. The future can be so murky…

As a butterfly flaps its wings...

Nickleson, alone and tired, came up upon an island near Canada, he couldn't tell how far it was as he had been drifting aimlessly for the better part of two days. He'd hopped on the boat that was his personal escape and taken off, but he was no sailor, and he'd swiftly gotten lost, lost land entirely, gone on until he'd run out of gas and found himself at the mercy of the ocean and the tides.

And yet…there did not seem to be randomness and bad luck behind this. No…there seemed to be…a purpose…

He finally sighted land.

He didn't know why he was going this way, or what possessed him to get off on this island that was a long way from land, but what he did know is that he felt something... pulling him. He couldn't explain it though; it was almost there was a voice in the back of his head, barking the odd order at him, saying things like 'Go north' and 'Find Shelter there'. He wasn't aware of it consciously though, not until recently, and he thought it might have been his own dementia setting in because of the lack of food.

The future looks promising again…

The island was a small one, on a clear day you could see from one end to the other if it was not for the trees, however a summer storm had been brewing all the summer long, and what Scalpel had been caught in some time ago was only a prelude to the stronger storm that had been caused by the immense heat, to try and relive the pressure on the sky line before it did damage to the earth below. The dry gap didn't last however, and the boat that Nickleson had arrived in was being tossed to wreck and ruin in the hailing winds and bullet like rain, the robes of the priest belonging to his own order soaking through and parts of it breaking off from the onslaught. He moored the boat as best he could by tugging it hard upon the island itself; however he doubted it was enough to keep the boat in one piece, let alone on the island. He'd lost the will to care at this point though, his usual spiky hair, black gravity deifying locks but with signs of grey age, was held down by the harsh winds and even more so by the rains as he sprinted through to find something, anything.

Then he saw it.

The future is uncertain…

In front of him was an archway, tall by design and wide enough to accommodate at least three cars, with a large metallic door on the front, rusted by summer storms and winter snow, but it still looked like it could work. Old computers, far too advanced for their time was what opened the door. After typing at it and receiving nothing but a negative buzz, he reached down and pulled off the panel below it that was labelled 'emergency open'. He pulled hard but couldn't budge it, it just refused to move under his own power. He backed up a little and kicked it. It was his bane now, the neglect of his athletic skills in favour for his scientific knowledge.

The future is strange…

What surprised him however, wasn't the fact he found this bunker, but another man was coming his way. He was a tall, scraggly looking man with a ratty appearance to him, his clothes scruffy and his face unshaven. He was a lanky young gentleman, who was running from the harsh winds, so concerned with escape that he didn't see Nickleson until he was right up close to him.

They stared at each other for a moment or two, and then, as if sharing the same thought, the pair of them grabbed at the emergency handle and yanked, forcing the old door open, allowing the two to stumble inside and out of the storm.

The room was dark, only lit up by the dim light coming from outside; even then it wasn't that much. The tall man leant down and started to breath heavily, having run through the rain to get there. Now he had stopped running and moving, his face was becoming more recognizable, he brushed the sodden locks of his hair out of his eyes and stood up again, trying to compose himself despite the fact he looked like he had been hiding from the police.

"I'm Dr Fowler." He extended his hand.

"Thanks for the help." Nickleson stated as he took the hand of his fellow scientist. "The name is Dr Nickleson." There was a pause, as he too tired to sort himself out, trying to straighten up his ceremonial poncho before it fell off his frame from the weight of the rain. "What are you doing here Doctor?" He questioned his fellow PHD holder, who just looked blankly at him for a moment. You could see the gears working in his mind.

"I'd love to give you an answer, but the actual fact is that I don't have a clue."

Nickleson raised a brow, he was truly curious now. He too had been drawn here and he couldn't explain it either.

"It seems we are in the same boat."

"I also have a feeling we won't be the last." Fowler added, looking around. He felt about his person and eventually came across a flashlight; it was small but powerful. "I say we find the electrics, turn them on, then make a cup of tea."

"I hope you can do that, I can hardly change a fuse." Nickleson joked. When you said you were a scientist, people generally thought that you knew everything, and in actual fact he was only a biologist. However, he was a good leader as he could organize people.

"I'm sure I can do something." Fowler nodded as the pair walked through the inside of the building. They soon managed to find the stairs, and Fowler proved to be rather clumsy or just extremely weary by nearly breaking his neck three times on the same set of stairs. Nickleson could tell straight away that this was going to take a while.

"Hey, what's that?"

The biologist turned around and looked at where his robotics friend was pointing with the torch. It was a small golden plate on the wall, unblemished by dust and grime unlike the upper levels.

"Sorceress Project?" He spoke out loud, trying to read the surface, the writing engraved, etched deep into the metal. He moved closer to find it was actually a door; however it had sealed itself shut because of the power outage. His mind boggled at the thought, what could be there? What could be behind this door? What great secrets accompanied the title that was carved so blatantly?

"Hello?" A call disrupted their thoughts as they turned to the stairs to see a young woman starting to descend them slowly, her outfit more casual than the men's with a dark red turtleneck jumper and jeans rather than shirts and smart trousers. However, she still possessed the generic lab coat, which is good as the rain had made her clothes cling and she was a little embarrassed about it. "Is anyone down there?"

"Over here!" Fowler called, shining the flashlight over to her so she could descend with greater ease. This moved the light away from the panel, effectively stopping any further thought on the part of his elder. "See Doctor? I told you we wouldn't be the only ones."

"My confidence in your deductions have actually risen since we left that staircase." He replied. "Only because they hit rock bottom anyway." He joked, talking about his friend's obvious 'bad luck'. "Let me guess, you came here but you don't know why?" He finished, directing the last question to the new arrival.

"That's about the size of it." The female Brunette said lightly, allowing him to nod as she cleaned her glasses.

"Whatever drew us is behind that door." He said, as he tapped on the door he was looking at. "We'll go restore power, get out of these wet clothes and find out what's behind there."

Nodding, the trio of scientists left, Dr Nickleson in front with the others behind, following their new leader as his first disciples had done for him.

The future looks bright…

And so we move away from the door, away from whatever was behind it.

Away from the mysteries and the curiosities and the strange urge to open it.

Away from a power they couldn't understand but were inevitably drawn to.

A power that was coming forth from it.

A power that needed awakening.

A power more dangerous than anything on earth.

"Release me."

And then the power came on.

The future, for the Titans, was going to be very, VERY bad.

* * *

Jedi: Damn, that took toooooooo loooonnngggg…. Don't expect the next chapter any time soon, I'm a little snowed under. My thanks to Legend Maker for all the help! You're a star! 


	21. Absolution: Armours and their Ghosts

Flashing Lights and Sounds

By Jedi-And

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, nor do I own Mr. Noel Collins or Robert Candide, but I DO own my own characters.

* * *

Chapter 21: Armours and their Ghosts

* * *

"You do this under protest!" Scalpel yelled, as he followed Savior from one room to the next in his attempt to discourage his friend from doing what he was about to do.

"Duly noted." The white haired teen replied, not slowing his stride.

We now rejoin the Titans from our pleasant little interlude a few days after we had left them. With the help of the JLA, enough evidence had been found to put a lot of the higher members of the cult behind bars, while a lot of the lower ranks, who just did what they were told or had no idea of the true nature of the organization they had belonged to, left and went home to their husbands, wives, sons and daughters. Their leader, Doctor Nickleson, had not been found, and neither had Vanity. The Titans worried about the day she came back, and him, but for now they just enjoyed the fact that the world seemed to be getting on fine without them, and had only really stepped outside to stop the odd and simple bank robbery since then. It was peaceful and fun.

Except Noel, ever the watchman, had other plans in mind.

Walking on while Nigel continued to rant and rave in his ear, the pair of them joined a room full of Titans to do something they had never done before: haze a Civilian. Like Raven had said, Nigel had given his trust to Sophie Mathews on a platter, and she had accepted said trust and returned it with respect and friendship. Cyborg and Starfire also accepted Sophie for being a kind, honest soul, and Gauntlet had no real negative opinion on her as it was hard for Robert Candide to have a negative opinion on anything. However, the other Titans had been persuaded to give her a hazing, though not in the usual sense. They were skipping the more physically gruelling tests and the more painful tasks and going straight to twenty questions. In reality, it was an interrogation, though Noel had been certain (and correctly so) he wouldn't be able to sell the Titans on that. But, disguised as hazing…

Whatever it may be, it was making the young woman uncomfortable. Sophie wasn't sure, and she was also unsure if she wanted to know, why all the Titans were all surrounding her in their 'auditorium'. It was built so large, well known heroes could come and almost 'guest lecture' the younger ones, or the Titans could lecture themselves to new up and coming heroes on the proper procedure of being a hero. It had been used a few times, though Nigel had never seen it before. It was small by most standards, only accommodating about twenty seats, though the floor space was large enough to do anything from a medical seminar to a martial arts display. One year the Titans were thinking about producing a play for the public; the space would be perfect for rehearsals if they could ever actually find the time to go through with it.

In the middle of the room was a chair, and in it sat the young undertaker who had agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to do this. She breathed slowly as she heard Nigel and Noel come around the corner and enter the room, Nigel now resorting to speaking in his native tongue to try and get his point across.

"Scalpel, 1) I can't understand you, and 2) Calm down, we're not going to harm her." Savior tried to reassure him. It seemed to work, as the alien simmered down and took a seat nearer the back.

"This is sooo important." Terra said flippantly as she put some popcorn into her mouth. Cyborg just shrugged.

"When Savior has his mind on something, he won't let it go until it's done. He's like a stubborn dog when you try and take away his chew toy." Cyborg noted lightly as the others also settled down. Sophie felt like she was under the microscope, as they all seemed to stare at her, waiting. She could feel the sweat rolling down her cheeks as she looked around the room, trying her hardest not to stare at the Titans, lest they thought she was staring at them in hate. There seemed to be a pause, enough to cause the air to stagnate and coughs to come from some of the Titans.

Luckily a new blast of fresh air filled the room; unfortunately this was soon followed by the smell of burning fur as the poor Titan who had to go get the lasso this time was Beast Boy, who wasn't exactly skilled at covert operations.

Although Wonder Woman was becoming highly irate that the Titans always seemed to go for her Lasso whenever they wanted to test if someone was lying, the other members of the Justice League were surprisingly positive on it, as it was a good analysis for their security systems. If the Titans didn't steal said rope every so often, they wouldn't know if their security systems were good enough to stop career criminals from taking the artefact and letting it fall into the wrong hands. The Titans always returned the lasso once they were finished so there was no real harm done. Still, it was getting harder and harder to break into the Watchtower, steal the lasso and get out. The JLA now realized that their defences and preventative measures had holes in them, but in such a fashion that they needed to improve the 'curative' ones, ones that reacted when something has been taken or disturbed. They weren't yet good enough to prevent said theft, but they also were not useless, hence the burn marks.

"Dude, that was not fun." Beast Boy said weakly as he handed the golden rope to Savior. The white teen didn't say a word as he nodded and made his way over to Sophie.

"Why did I have to do that?" Beast Boy asked as he collapsed over a few of the chairs.

"We explained. You were the next one to go get the Lasso. We all drew names out of a hat to go get said lasso each time we needed it." Robin elucidated. "Next time we need it, It'll be Scalpel's turn."

"Wait, how did I 'jump' the list as you humans say?" The alien asked, leaning over from one of the further rows.

"Simple, because you can't change fuses."

The group faded off into a slight flashback of him replacing the fuse for the kettle (why Nigel couldn't just use an American kettle which did not require fuses, rather then a British one that did was an issue lost to time…), only to accidentally make it explode (He had a wonderful knowledge of medicine, but his technological knowledge left a little to be desired, yet he could help to rebuild Cyborg at times because he understood the principles behind the organic counterparts, but there was a difference between an advanced cyborg and a tea kettle…). Unfortunately, when Scalpel made the kettle explode, Robin was in mid game and getting a high enough score to beat the rumoured high score Cyborg got during the time jumps, and ecause the explosion was electrical based it shorted out the entire tower, which meant that not only did Robin lose his game save, Beast Boy was cut off talking to then girlfriend Charm, Starfire wondered what she did wrong when she opened her mini-fridge to find the light wouldn't come on, and Cyborg was stuck in the lift.

But I digress...

"This won't hurt." Noel said, as he tied Sophie's arm to the armrest of the chair she was sitting in. She had a slightly worried look in her eyes as she tested the strength of the rope. Chances were the armrest or her arm itself would give before the lasso did. She was stuck, and whatever the Titans had in mind, she had a feeling she wouldn't like it.

Noel walked towards the seats but didn't sit down; he stood there, like a vulture on a branch waiting for its prey to die before swooping in.

"How do we know this will work?" Raven lightly asked. The sorceress had a small bandage on her forehead with some absorbent pads under it and stitches under that (She was wondering if there would come a time when her healing abilities would no longer be needed with Scalpel around taking all the medical emergencies and healing them the old fashioned way). "We've only tested this on heroes who had nothing to hide."

"What about the bit when Savior spoke about his first experiences with his power?" Robin asked.

"We can check.. HEY! How much do you weight Sophie?" Terra shouted from the middle of the rows of seats. On closer inspection there was about 40 seats rather than twenty.

"One hundred and forty to fifty pounds at my last weighing..." Sophie paused and covered her now bright red face with her free hand. Nigel blushed as well as he heard the ever so slight utterance of 'bitch' under Sophie's bright red lips. He had wondered why they hadn't dissipated yet and gone back to their normal flesh colour, as the rest of her seemed to return to normal after drinking the blood except her lips. She shrugged it off, just saying it was probably a side effect of her drinking the blood of a human, as she didn't need to drink it for nourishment, she just drank it because it hurt the other person, which was in this case her brother.

Terra laughed to herself, being only a deathly seventy pounds. She was one of the smallest, and the lightest of the Titans. She could also be nasty at times; perhaps whatever Slade had briefly tapped into in another life was finding new channels in the blonde girl, manifesting in less Judas Contract but still mean ways.

"Enough. This is for serious purposes, not high school bullshit." Savior snapped, and then unfurled a list of questions that he wanted to ask the undertaker. The reason behind the timing of this wasn't because they didn't have anything better to do (they still needed to get the underground bunker from the previous chapter sorted), but Noel had started with his usual paranoia and now they needed to wait for his list of probing and ultimately pointless questions to find out if Sophie was a threat to them in any way shape or form. Nigel's protests were understandable but ultimately dismissible; he wouldn't let his team suffer because Nigel seemed to think he had found someone to protect, kind of like Superman's Lois Lane. He wondered if it was more than that, but he just had to wait and see.

"Okay Robin, start the tape."

Robin nodded and pressed a button next to him, which started the microphone. They even had a little red light with the words 'Recording' outside of the room so if anyone was outside, they knew to take it easy when coming inside.

"Alright, these are the Teen Titans; Robin, Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Savior, Gauntlet, Terra and Scalpel interviewing Miss Sophie Mathews." Savior said, speaking loudly so he was sure he'd be heard. Everyone made a noise of acknowledgement, either in the human tongue known as English or in their own native language. Some said something in another language just to show off.

"First question Miss Mathews, and I won't beat around the bush like we do when recruit or join up new members." Savior said. He looked over his shoulder slightly before continuing on. "Are you a mole, spy or any other kind of traitor would set us up for any reason whatsoever?"

"No." She replied simply, shaking her head. She was a little taken aback by the question, however she half expected it. As she said, sometimes it's hard to believe people are good just to be good any more, there always has to be a level of deceit or selfishness behind it to make it believable.

"Would you ever turn into a mole, spy or traitor for any reason whatsoever?"

"I wouldn't have a reason to do so."

"Please answer that yes or no."

"No, I wouldn't."

Nigel's face started to scowl at the questions.

"Do you realize that staying at the tower until you get yourself back on your feet may result in you being kidnapped and/or tortured and/or killed."

This shocked Sophie somewhat.

"Er... Well I hadn't thought about it..." She paused a little. What else was there to do? She couldn't go back home as she didn't have one, and she couldn't go back to her father's house as that would make this whole leaving her family thing moot. Savior waited patiently. He knew such a thing could be a blow to a person as it may, or may not, make or break them in their resolve.

"Y-yes, I understand." She said lightly before continuing. Savior nodded.

"You realize that the same could be said for any one of the Titans for any reason?" He gestured towards the crowd behind him, though he was metaphorically pointing to Scalpel, and the alien knew he was. She once again paused, her face changing ever so slightly as she tried to think. Then she nodded solemnly, her brown hair falling in front of her face. "She nods but doesn't say anything." He spoke so that the tape could hear him.

"Why is Savior treating her like this?" Nigel growled to Raven, who just shrugged, wondering if her boyfriend was indeed taking this too far. She could understand not wanting anything to affect their team, but she didn't want him to take it too far and to try and plug the chair into the main electrical supply.

"Do you have any affiliation with any criminals of any kind?"

"My brother." She stated quickly. "He's corrupt, he lies, he steals, and I'm sure he embezzles and launders money but I can't prove it."

After she said it, she regretted it. But of course she could do nothing about it as her arm was wrapped in a lasso that acted like the perfect truth serum. Savior nodded and looked at his questions sheet.

"Would he offer us any problems in the future?"

"Not sure, though I do remember him trying to buy Titans Tower when it was the old labs owned by Doctor Stone." She replied. "He may try and go for it again; after all it would prove he has power."

Savior just growled in disgust. This Tony Mathews was another Maxwell Collins in the making. He wasn't quite there, but he could tell that Tony had everything it took; he just needed the experience and a few higher quality henchmen.

"Do you own any weaponry of any kind?"

"No, except a pair of antique swords that were display only which was handed down to me by my grandfather, however those had been 'confiscated' by my brother when he seized the Funeral Home."

"Alright." Savior paused and made his way over to her, each step a slow one. She had hoped that was it, that she would be untied and that they would carry on while she looked for her own place, but it wasn't quite over, He removed from his jacket a card with some writing on it and showed it to her. It was another question, but one that seemed to turn her beetroot-red and made her recoil slightly, her eyes almost welling up by being offended.

"Y...ou think I'm nothing more than some kind of..." She said, her voice weak. Savior had shown her the card rather than asked the question outright because of one reason and one reason alone, Nigel would have heard him. But he heard Sophie's reply.

"You tell me." Savior replied.

"That's enough!" Scalpel shouted as he stood up. "This interview is terminated." He made his way down as Robin nodded in agreement and clicked off the tape. Savior straightened himself up and placed the card back inside the secret pocket on the inside of his jacket.

"You are treating her like a criminal!" Scalpel continued to yell as he made it to the auditorium floor. Savior turned to face him. "I agree that we have to make sure that people don't want to harm the team, but if we look at her history the only thing she has ever had was a parking ticket!"

"I suppose you do have a point, however I have to make it clear that..."

The white Titan was cut off as alarms sounded throughout the building. Obviously something was causing a problem. The Titans looked over to Robin.

"Alright, time we had some exercise." Robin stood up, having fully returned to the role of leader. "Titans! Go!"

The Titans, ran, flew, jumped and teleported out of the room, leaving Noel and Nigel in the centre of it as they untied Sophie from the chair.

"Okay, now Sophie, you can stay here, but if you can't understand what something does within three seconds, please don't touch it." Noel stated, finally letting her go. She just offered another silent nod as she rubbed her wrist. Turning to the doctor, he tried to think of any other necessities. "Okay, now you go grab your gear Nigel and we'll be on our way. Whatever it is this time we'll find out when we get to the lounge."

The alien nodded and then started for the door…

…only to stop with the utterance of a single word.

"Nigel?" Sophie asked, causing the alien's eyes to bug out and Savior to groan heavily. The only time he has ever let slip a name, _EVER,_ and it had to be in front of a civilian. He cursed inwardly and decided that there was only one thing to do.

"Hey Sophie? Look over there a second." He said, and she complied happily, turning to face in the pointed direction, completely trusting the Titan, as he reached up with his hand, the Shimmer coming from his palm to insert itself into Sophie's ear and wipe her recent memory clean.

Or at least he would have, if Nigel hadn't jumped in and grabbed his arm and dragged him back, literally forcing the Shimmer to miss her ear by a few millimetres as Scalpel pulled his friend out of the room. Sophie just looked confused as she could hear the struggle, but by the time she got the idea that maybe she should turn her head back to see what was actually happening, they were gone. She sighed; it must have been one of Savior's little traits to try and disappear without anyone seeing him, like Batman did, and then she mused on how Nigel seemed quite the handsome name, and for some reason it seemed to suit him quite nicely.

Once outside the room, Noel wasn't exactly the happiest of campers as he managed to shrug away Nigel's strong grip.

"What, may I ask, was that for?" He questioned sternly, brushing himself down.

"Well apart from the fact that you may inadvertently wipe away her memories of her training as an undertaker, that is an invasion of privacy too far." Nigel retorted. "It would be like one of us connecting Cyborg to a computer and Sideloading his memories onto a disk."

"Downloading, not Side-loading." Savior corrected. "But I suppose you're right. Still, I have my doubts about her."

"You're slowly becoming paranoid my friend. Why would she want to harm us?"

"Nigel, I could give you a list the size of the average phone book on why she might do something bad, because it has been done so many, many times before."

Nigel scowled again.

"But, for you... I'll give her a chance. After all, who knows what might happen in the future." Noel said, while shrugging.

"What did you actually show her?" Nigel asked as the pair ran upstairs to the lounge area.

"I'm not going to tell you."

Reaching the lounge, they actually found that their little spat had caused them to be a tad late, and hence there were no other active Titans in the room, just the information on the large screen in front of them.

"You're late." Well there was one Titan left. Raven sat upon the sofa with a bowl of ice-cream and one of the many books she meant to get around to reading.

"And you my dear are stating the obvious." Noel commented lightly, a slight smile on his lips before he returned to his usual work based attitude. "Blame safety discussions."

The reason that Raven was not on the mission was a simple one. In the last few months she had been attacked, slashed, eaten and cut up for parts and because of the blood loss Nigel had ordered her to take an extra few days off, despite the fact that he too had lost a lot of blood over the last few days. Then again, doctors sometimes never listen to their own advice.

The pair swiftly read the information on the screen and followed the Titans to the mentioned location (Raven giving them a little help and making a conduit to the museum that was being robbed, or at least near enough as not to strain her too greatly). Obviously they figured that it wouldn't take too long to take this person out. On the screen, taken from a hacked feed of the museum cameras, had been a man wearing armour and armed with a long spear. He didn't look too bad; the Titans could probably last a little while without them. Then again, while this spear wielding person was neither the tallest nor most defined people in the universe, he still looked like he could do some damage, even if it was only collateral.

* * *

Collateral damage:

Damage done to an inanimate object, or in the case of super heroes, MANY inanimate objects. This could be anything from cars to buildings. Super heroes have been put through windows so many times people have lost count. The Titans, had they been paying attention, would realise that they go through windows more often then people give them credit for. Savior ranked at the top of the list on the whole window thing (He went through them so often it seemed a running joke of the cosmos), though he was quickly followed by Cyborg who had been put through as many walls as windows. Beast Boy and Terra would probably be at the bottom of the list, both being too small and light to be able to break a window, let alone a wall, unless they were propelled with enough force to do so. But enough force to propel them from their usual forms or constructs would have probably knocked the window out just because of the shockwave.

Damages calculate at least two thirds of the super hero group budget, or at least for a lot of the heavily powered ones: vigilantes, the ones who didn't have special powers, tended to spend more on gadgets than damages. Most people saw the damages and looked upon these 'special' people with a sort of disdain; even if their intentions were good did they really need to throw my Ford at them?

But we all know what road those intentions line, and we know about what could happen with them. Men and women fight, bleed, suffer, and sometimes die because they needed to, otherwise more fatalities would follow, only to find that when all was said and done they had been needed elsewhere and the unprotected area had fallen apart without them.

The Spoiler had had good intentions; she had wanted to help bring down the masses of criminals in Gotham, but the real question had been was she truly doing this for the city, or had it been to prove to Batman he was wrong about her? Was she hiding behind good intentions? Or was she just trying to do two things at once? Unfortunately, we will never know, as the young woman was killed, in the process triggering off a new mass hatred of costumed 'vigilantes'. The futures for heroes seem to be getting bleaker as the days wore on. Less and less people respected them for what they did or were doing, and would rather pull them from the pedestal they had been arguably placed upon by those who now wished to destroy them.

Men and women with good intentions, forever going into the darkness of the world to find a light switch. Problem was, the switch they pulled may have just been turning on the electric chair before they inadvertently sat down on it, having let their guard down in thinking they have done a good job.

Sometimes not even that. A lot of people think they can, deserve to, sit down after doing a good job, only to find out that they needed, forced to get back up and prove that their efforts have been useful in some way or another, and to carry on said 'good job' until doomsday. This was one of the things the Titans sometimes struggled with; if they had to give it all up, would they be able to? When they got old and had to pass the torch, would they be able to do it? Or could they not, because habit told them not to, because they were too used to the idea that they had to get up and get to 'work' on the city.

Before the Titans had turned up, Jump City had been a place of fear and loathing, caught between two powerful criminal empires that would have burned the city to the ground before they let the other side have it. Now it was a respectable place to live. There weren't as many cars about as there used to be as insurance inadvertently rose due to the fact the Titans tended to use them as ammunition, though also because of this tourism started rising, because it was such a generally clean city. It had been lucky the Titans had turned up when they did; any longer and the damage to the city would have been irreparable, like Gotham was now. The reason Batman had made such plans and took such lengths as had been revealed in the 'War Games' tragedy was because the corruption of the city of darkness had gone too far, and had sunk too deep. Unless someone cut it out with as much ferocity as when it was placed, Gotham would only decline until it imploded on itself and became a cancer upon the rest of the world.

Then again, it is not the city that is the cancer, but the people. People are prone to do things that other animals on this planet wouldn't even conceive of doing; rape, murder and other villainies…and stealing, although that was 'less' in the world of crime than the previous two named acts. It was still, however, noticeable. And it had been what the Titans had gone to stop that day when they left in the middle of Sophie's 'interrogation'.

It had gone relatively to plan, as Robin and the others had managed to surround the museum in question and had all gone in at different points to prevent the new unnamed enemy from escaping, only to see something they hadn't quite expected. Usually when a person robbed a museum they tried their hardest to keep the artefacts in one piece so they could be sold to collectors or other museums for large sums of money. However, the figure now in front of them didn't pay the same careful attention to the artefacts that other criminals might have if they were in there because a museum is usually a gold mine for everyone. The criminal steals the artefact, and sells it to someone else, that person then sells it back to the museum for more and the museum gets their artefact back. Of course most of the time this cycle was stopped at step number two because sometimes the whole point of buying something like that was just so you can boast at the fact you had something which you shouldn't, like the solid gold death mask of an old emperor.

But who said this man was in there to rob the place?

The Titans had surrounded him, and despite of aforementioned surprise they seemed to be winning against the man who was quite content ripping apart thousands of years of history. That is, they were winning until he managed to draw his spear from behind him.

That happened to be the point when things went to hell in a hand basket. When Savior and Scalpel managed to actually get to the relic warehouse that was this olden style building, they had found that a large chunk of the front had been destroyed by whatever the Titans had encountered, even as the Titans stood there, straight and true against the foe who walked slowly, calmly down the stairs in the front of the building. He was a relatively average sized man, his armour representing that of a mix of ancient Chinese armour and medieval plating. Most people would think he was a stereotypical knight, but half of his face was open, the lower half. The upper half was covered by a simple mask and helmet combination; you could even still see his eyes. His leather boots matched his armour, as it seemed to be made of a bronze alloy of some kind.

"Well now I've seen everything." He said, speaking in a somewhat bemused voice that was altered, just a bit, so it didn't sound fully human, altered by something unseen. If Raven had been there, she would have told them instantly if he was magical or not, but she wasn't so they had no idea what power type he had. It made the Titans feel uncomfortable. "A group that in some places is revered as one of the greatest super hero teams on the planet, and yet you still can't see when things are not of your concern."

"You are tearing up our city, I think it is our concern." Robin replied.

"Well then do-gooder, you will feel my evil wrath upon thee!"

"Do-gooder? Wrath upon thee?" Gauntlet asked, shifting through the leaflets he had managed to get. No one was yet sure where the hell he had managed to get those things from; maybe he had a secret supplier or something. "Methinks you need monologuing improvement. How about Evil John's evil courses?" He asked, holding up a leaflet to their foe's work.

"That was the man who broke into Jump City's Park Avenue bank!" Starfire commented, looking over his shoulder. It was indeed the red eyed, smirk wearing, black haired, cape owning super villain who had managed to escape the clutches of the Titans back in Wings of Eagles.

"Oh...um... yeah." He stated simply. Beast Boy snatched the leaflet away.

"Where did you get this!" He demanded.

"You do not need to know where I got this from." He waved his hand in front of Beast Boy's face.

"DON'T you be starting that again!" Cyborg exclaimed, pressing down hard on the wise cracking Titan. The man in the armour sweat-dropped somewhat, wondering if the fact their attention was diverted from him was accidental or just out of disrespect.

"We'll deal with you later Gauntlet, but for now we may as well ask your name." Robin stated, addressing the problem at hand, not the problem that had happened a while ago.

"Very well." The armoured man said. He coughed slightly and started to strike multiple posses. "I am the terror that haunts the dreams of the heroes of this world; I am the hero of a world destroyed by those who proclaimed to protect it! I am the MASTER of the injustice! I am Longius!"

"Long what?" Gauntlet managed to ask, getting out from under the hand that was pressing him down.

"Longius. That was the name of the Roman legionnaire who stabbed Jesus Christ in the side with a spear to make sure he was dead." Terra said. This produced a few estranged glares. "What? I had to read that part of the bible out loud when I was a kid, I couldn't really shake it."

"The namesake of the one who supposedly killed the son of the supposed God of everything, according to one of the major human religions? Isn't that a little..." Starfire clicked her fingers to try and remember. "What was the word people kept using for you Savior? Oh yes, pretentious." She stated, finally remembering. If she kept coming into 'physical contact' with Tim, she'd end up being a master of the English language, possibly even writing songs and poems.

"I promise you, I'm not pretentious in the slightest!" Longius declared, as he pulled out his spear and slashed it down, cracking the steps in front of him and forcing the Titans back as rubble and debris flew into the air. It was obvious that he wasn't exactly a master in this area, however he had enough skill to challenge them.

Robin leapt in, his bo extended as he brought it down upon the head of their foe, but Longius just raised his spear and blocked it before kicking the martial artist away…only to get blasted back by Starfire. No one took those two lightly, as in the Titan pairings they would probably be pretty high on the danger scale when together. Longius didn't seem to register that though, as he once again took his spear and swung at the air. She was nowhere near enough for it to actually connect, but he hadn't meant it too; he instead used a nice side effect of his spear which was minor wind control, which allowed him to fire a short, though somewhat powerful blast at the young Tameranean which forced her back though the air, making it harder for her to actually fly in and strike him.

Longius should have paid attention to what was in front of him rather then above him, as Scalpel came swinging down with his weapon to see if he could slash a line across their enemies' chest. Longius just managed to get his spear down, but because of the lateness of the action, combined with the strength of the alien, it still managed to knock him off balance, even if it was only a little bit.

The doctor didn't follow up though, leaving that task to others as Beast Boy bounded over the top of him as a cougar to try and complete the tackle on the spear wielder, but Longius had other plans. He leaned on his spear and then thrust out both legs, catching Beast Boy with them, using the changeling's own momentum against him to drive every ounce of wind out of his green body. The armoured man then used a surprising amount of strength as he shoved out a bit more and pushed Beast Boy away and into Scalpel, sending the two stumbling back (said motion probably using a little of his air manipulation powers). Taking up his spear, Longius wasn't finished yet as he jumped up and off the stairs, as he brought the spear down hard upon the road and actually cracked it open. It wasn't enough to do any real damage, but under the weight of two men the street collapsed, sending the alien and shapeshifter into the darkness.

"Longius Two, Titans Nothing." He smirked.

Savior swung down and lashed out with a few tendrils of Shimmer energy, trying to rip the spear from his fingers. He managed to get a firm grip on it, but actually removing it from his hands was a different task entirely. The two fought for control, but neither gained an inch. It was as if a third party more powerful then the town did not want the spear to move at all.

Once again, while this war of wills was being played out, Starfire had made it back into the air as Terra went into the depths of the crack made in the street to find the two of the less humanoid male members of the team. The Tamaranean started to fire blast after blast to disrupt the so called 'Christ killer', though one would think that with such a name the attack would prove to be nothing. But there are names and then there was reality, and reality had yet to answer the question of whether this man who shared his name with that of the soldier who helped in the death of the son of a god (or THE god, depending on who you asked), could manage to harm those who shared their names with creatures who gave birth to the gods themselves?

Dodging the blasts and winning the war of wills was a bit too much to do at once; Longius needed a plan or he would lose his spear, and without that he could actually lose the fight itself. So, in a swift movement, he threw Savior up in the air over his head, and, using his new found momentum, spun the spear so it cut the Shimmer lines. Savior jerked as he seemingly floated through the air…only to have Longius use his air manipulation with another spinning 'pass and push' to toss the white Titan into the team's first alien, once again knocking her out of the sky. Savior, still in the grip of the cut Shimmer pain, was saved a nasty fall by Starfire as she grabbed him before he slipped away from her.

"This isn't really going our way." Starfire said, a slight edge on her voice. Savior noted how much she had matured over the last few weeks…or was matured the right word for it? Could Kory have suffered his fate and turned bitter? For all his words to how it was inevitable, Noel didn't want Kory to lose her kind and light persona, looking at everything with new eyes, looking at everything like it was wonderful and fascinating. Noel would never be like that again, and he knew that some of the others could never go back either, so he wanted Kory to be a happy soul as long as possible.

Yet she'd just lost a child. Could even Kory come back from that…

He'd figure it out later, as the pair untangled themselves and watched Robin jump in and fight him with his metal bo. Because of the similarity of the weapons, neither could gain the advantage, so the fight continued to escalate further and further as the swipes and swings became more and more vivid, the two forms twisting and turning to form one continuous movement as if they were the ribbons used by dancers to help make their piece flow. Robin, however, had the advantage of years and years of training and that his weapon could be used in any way shape or form. The fact he was using a weapon with no sharp point on it meant that he could allow himself certain moves that would have cut him if he was using a spear or a crescent blade, and he made sure that his foe realized that, as Longius swiped at the Teen Wonder, only to have Robin press his hand against the end of his staff and push it forward, allowing him previously unused distance with his tool which hit home on Longius' lower back, pushing him away.

Their foe was lucky, as the weapon hurt but didn't break the bronze armour in which he was clad, allowing him to counter by spinning and once again slashing out in a horizontal line. But once AGAIN, this wasn't effective as the Former-Boy Wonder jumped it and tried to bring his staff down upon the helmet of Longius, who managed to get his spear back up just in time to block the blow. It still had an affect…the wrong kind: Robin felt the vibration rattle up his arms as if he just hit a concrete wall. Obviously the spear was tougher than its user. He took half a second to make a closer inspection of the spearhead, and with that Robin noticed that it wasn't complete. He looked at the sharp, jagged edges and noticed that it was in fact only part of the spear. There were still parts of it missing. Perhaps that was what Longius was looking for?

Robin would figure that out later, as he put his detective side away and spun his bo, switching the pressure from down on the spear to under it, hitting the 'cousin weapon' up into the air, forcing it out of the hands that had spent so long fighting for the weapon with Savior. Robin didn't waste time and stabbed his bo forward, however the armour was obviously lighter than it looked at Lognius sidestepped the hero…and wasn't so lucky the second time as Robin swung the bo to the side from his stab, intercepting him and sending the armoured foe in the opposite direction of the way he had tried to dodge before he lost his footing. Longius landed hard on his back, and Robin brought his bo down upon the struggling villain…

Who used the padded palms of his gauntlets to catch the pole-like weapon, and the two fought for leverage, a grimace on each other's face. Neither of their eyes gave away anything, much less how much in the way of strain they were feeling. Robin worked out every day of his life and was extremely toned, however he made sure he was balanced and hence lost none of the speed he gained from his naturally lean form, which left him with the speed and grace of an acrobat (though nowhere as much of an acrobat as Dick Grayson, his predecessor, but then again he had been raised in a circus) and the strength of a heavyweight wrestler. Longius, on the other hand, gained his strength through an unknown method, though it was doubtful that he trained as much as Robin did. Hell, Nigel sometimes mused even some of the military on his home world didn't work out as much as Tim did.

And it appeared that wherever it came from, the strength of Longius was starting to fade. Robin popped his detective side out again and guesstimated that he was slowly moving down from a level seven threat to a level five, roughly from the threat that Myth was all the way down to just above Mumbo. Obviously without his spear he wasn't much of a challenge. Longius knew this himself, as he searched franticly for his weapon, his eyes finally spying it nearby…and that brief distraction was all Robin needed to adjust the leverage to whip one hand into his utility belt and pull from one of the many sections a pair of new fashioned police handcuffs with the leather band in between the cuffs to cover the chain either to protect said chain from rust or allow the police to hold onto the handcuffs better. He thrust them out, trying to snap them on Longius' wrists…

A shocked look came across the villain's face (or what could be seen of it) as he looked back towards the movement, even as the cuffs snapped closed on his wrists. He realized what was going to happen, and then engaged a part of his brain he wasn't using and did something only villains did, and that was to aim bellow the belt with a kick. Most of the male Titans had all taken to wearing a cup to protect their future family blood lines, and while it didn't hurt half as much as it could of, it still made Robin go numb before the cuffed villain coiled his leg up and kicked him off, rolling over and diving for his spear.

It wasn't his day though as a long, black, jagged crescent blade came from the sky and dug itself into the ground at an angle, landing next to the spear.

"Missed me!" Longius taunted as he grabbed his spear in mid-dive.

And then fell flat on his face.

Getting up, Longius tugged at his spear, as it had not been pulled out of the ground with the forward momentum he had as he expected, but had instead been stuck fast and caused his forward momentum to evaporate, forcing him to fall to the ground.. Longius cursed as he got to his knees and tried to yank his spear free. It remained thoroughly stuck. Longius thrashed and pulled at the spear, as he started to utter obscenities and lose his composure in his attempts to force the spear from the street. The Titans could only laugh as their foe continued to struggle. What had happened was that Scalpel, having finally been brought back from the abyss he and his colleague had fallen into, noticed that Longius had spied his weapon of choice when Tim had snapped the handcuffs on, and knowing he would go for it, Nigel threw his own weapon and had used one of its jagged edges to pin the spear in place, leaving their foe defenceless. And the armoured villain knew it too.

A green bear which was larger (and smarter) than the average bear came up next to the occupied Longius and grabbed him in a, er, bear hug, crushing his huge furry forelimbs upon the foe, trying to crack the dull bronze armour. Caught, Longius didn't really have a lot of options, as while he had a slight amount of super strength with his spear, without it he only had above average human strength, and that wasn't enough to try and force his way out of the grip of the monstrous bear (a very large Kodiak bear, in case you were wondering), so he did the next best thing, something Beast Boy himself had done many times.

He bit the changeling. Hard.

Beast Boy let go, as Longius aforementioned above normal human strength also meant he could bite with some fervour, and he had managed to chomp down on a bundled-together host of nerves that Beast Boy didn't care to get bitten, as he loosened the bear hug with a roaring yelp, allowing Longius to slip out. Now before you say he wouldn't let go because as a bear he could take far more punishment then as a human; yes admittedly he could take a lot of damage as a bear, he could be hit and smashed around like a punching bag and still come out of it in a fighting mood, but that' was when he was in a full battle mindset, or as much of one as Beast Boy could muster, and he had lost said mindset with that hit involving the spear, and he hadn't quite gotten back into it. Even so, just because he was free didn't mean Longius was out of the woods, as Beast Boy lumbered after the armoured villain, who gasped at the giant creature's surprising speed, making the green young man laugh to himself before he attacked.

Longius jumped out the way of a swipe of Beast Boy's good arm…and jumped straight into the hands of Starfire, who was now very irritated with the spear wielding, armour wearing villain.

"Time we had a hero-to-villain talk my foe." She called, ascending with Longius acting as a passenger. "I will not harm you if you give up now, but persist and I will have to take action!"

To emphasize what kind of action she meant, she started to soar over the buildings, turning a little before correcting her flight path to make sure she didn't get too far from her team. Longius squirmed in the alien's slender fingers, trying to get free. He only managed to turn around so he was now facing her rather than facing outward.

"You have nowhere to go! Give up now and I will not drop you!" Starfire promised with a strong threatening undertone that indicated she would do just what she said if she had to. The armoured foe, seemingly unperturbed, looked down as she passed another set of buildings on her ever-moving flight. And then he smiled.

"Sorry, this is my stop!" Longius said, as he reached up and grabbed at Starfire's chest. Starfire looked shocked and then her eyes glared daggers at Longius as she instinctively raised her hands and balled them into fists so she could beat him away. Unfortunately, this meant the only thing that was stopping the young man from falling was his grip on the fabric on her top, and unlike her it wasn't as sturdy as it looked when you had the weight of an entire person and their armour upon it.

A ripping sound was heard and Longius fell onto one of the rooftops that they had been flying over at the time. He could survive a short drop like that as he landed, his boots causing the ground to crack slightly. He stood up, and then became aware of something in his hand; it almost felt like a cross between latex and lycra. He looked down to see a purple piece of cloth that doubled as armour, however the seams were not as strong as the material that supported it.

"…Oops." He said. Even though a mask-esque helmet covered the top half of his face, you could tell he blushed as he quickly dropped the piece of the shirt and looked up to see Starfire charging up a giant Starbolt in one hand while the other tried to keep her dignity, the look in her eyes having gone from angry to murderous.

"YOU! YOU! HOW **DARE** YOU! These are not yours to TOUCH!" She bellowed, and fired the blast at the rooftop, causing the still handcuffed Longius to run for his life, diving for the next rooftop, and then rolling up and diving for the next one as the now highly embarrassed Starfire continued her bombardment, having to switch hands when one arm got tired.

In the end he didn't manage to outrun her; random chance reached out and blessed him, as a random reporter was out and about trying to find proof that Jump City's industries were causing a layer of smog that were begin to rival even Light City. Unfortunately on this clear day there was no smog about, nor much in the way of cloud and he had been just about ready to pack up and go home when he spied Starfire up in the air blasting at something. He watched, noticing that something was off, that there was too much orange on the young girl and he managed to zoom in with the camera to find her half naked and flying, so he strapped on a flash just to make sure, zoomed in so he had a decent picture and took a snapshot. Kory noticed the flash, realized what it was, debated her options, and then zoomed away after the light, lest her photos fall into the wrong hands or worse where they were more likely going to be, in tomorrow's Jump City Times front page or page 3 of the local men's tabloid so men all around the city and maybe even the state could drool over her.

Longius, meanwhile, was trying to make his way down across the buildings and back to the street, having some trouble on the ladders because he was handcuffed and couldn't move his hands freely, but making it down anyway. He was rushing across the latest rooftop as Terra made her way up it. Gauntlet pulled himself up next to her as she pulled up a few chunks of concrete to try and slow Longius down, as Gauntlet readied his artefact to fire off the yellow energy in a large blocky battering ram esque shape. However, their plan wasn't thought through as well as they though as it actually helped the armoured villain: he dodged the first few rocks and ram, hence forcing Terra to call up more 'ammo', and as those rose up from the street then jumped upon one of the larger rocks and continued downward, as she kept on getting her 'ammo' from one street and hence made a path for him. Gauntlet tried to attack him with the battering ram, but the swirling rock ledges kept messing up his aim and he kept missing. Their combined powers seemed to be proving counter productive that day, as Longius continued down. Terra growled and followed him, continuing to pelt him with rocks, even thought it seemed pointless: his armour protected him and he had actually made it all the way down via the impromptu rock path. Now back on the ground, he had one thing on his mind.

Get his spear back and kick some arse.

And that he did, as he ran straight for where his spear was pinned, trapped under its more monstrous, out of town cousin. That little factor was going to be one of the flaws in his plan, as not only was the pinning weapon a lot heavier than it looked, it was also well and truly buried in the ground and hence going to be harder to shift. His thoughts on that matter, however, were stopped when he once again found himself under siege by the Growing-Boy Wonder, as Robin jumped in to gain a little bit of revenge for Longius' attempt to make his next few days uncomfortable ones. Longius just managed to duck under the swipe by the young martial artist and once again only just managed to shift to the side to avoid another painful attack, dancing around the Titan's blows in a most comical way before something happened Robin didn't expect. He swung straight down with his staff, expecting to hit the helmet and knock some sense in (or out) of the spear-wanting villain, but Longius once again managed to get his hands up in the air rather quickly, and all Robin heard was a dull thud as the metal Bo came down upon the leather bound middle of his handcuffs, stopping the attack dead. Both stood there for a moment, shocked that it actually worked, but the one on the wrong side of the law actually took note of the confusion first and kicked Robin away even as he clamped his hands on the bo that was stuck between his wrists. With his newly stolen weapon, he quickly spun it, proving surprisingly graceful with any kind of pole-based weapon, but he wanted his weapon, not any of the heroes' ones. He slid the weapon in between his spear and Nigel's Halberd and used it as a crowbar, trying to get the right amount of leverage to force the heavier weapon from its resting place and away.

Terra swooped in to continue her attack.

Longius decided he'd had enough of playing Gordan Freeman and disposed of the makeshift crowbar by throwing it at the young geomancer and smacking her straight off her rock with a javelin throw from hell. And because she was no longer controlling the rock, it stopped dead and fell, taking Rob Candide with it. Having finally wrenched it up enough, Longius yanked the Halberd out and tossed it aside, finally allowing him to take up his spear…and what was the first thing he did?

He threw the spear away.

After all that effort he just threw his spear.

Most of the Titans stared in amazement, wondering if he was either brilliant or foolish. Some of the things he did suggested the former, while the other things suggested the latter.

Then they saw what he had planned, and it worried him that he might be able to pull it off. You see, he wasn't throwing his spear away, he was throwing it up, and what goes up, as stated so many times by so many cliché action heroes, must come down. It was a fact of nature that the heavier thing would have more for gravity to get and keep ahold of, and hence he threw the spear straight up and the spear came down, now flipped around so now the spear tip was coming down like a bullet from a very large gun.

Longius just held out his wrists and the spear head sheered through the metal and the leather of his handcuffs, passing through it with little resistance. But then again that was steel, and even though made of flesh, Titans were made of sterner stuff.

And Scalpel was going to prove this as he rushed in, snatched up his discarded glaive and charging the newly freed foe. He didn't care if it was going to end up being one on one, he wasn't going to let his friends be pushed around by someone who dared to try and usurp him as the newest pole-arms guy on the block as it where. He swung in, but now that Longius had his spear back he was a more than capable opponent.

Their weapons clashed hard against each other before Longius spun his weapon away, doing a near complete 360 before he followed the spin and stabbed out in a straight line, but all he got was a tip of his cape which was nicked ever so slightly as Scalpel spun too, following the direction Longius' weapon was going in, and once Longius had been committed to a move the alien had dived away, rolling off to the side of Longius and then slashed at the armoured villain's ankles. Luckily, or unluckily, Longius managed to jump at the last minute, but it didn't seem like a conscious thing. It was so delayed it almost seemed that he was ordered to do it by something.

Longius slashed down but missed again as the alien flipped to his feet. Longius swung up and in a horizontal arc, only to strike the metallic pole that the demonic looking blade sat upon instead of something less robust. This time the impact sent shakes up both sets of arms. Unlike Robin's staff/bo, which was designed for its flexibility and light handling, Scalpel's glaive was designed to be strong, thick and sturdy. It was the heavyweight of the pole-arm family; the spear wasn't. The alien weapon also had the advantage of being designed by a species very used to war, and hence it was designed to also be supple and swift but with enough rigidity to support the blade on its end. Then again, Longius was clearly wielding more than your garden verity spear, so when it came into contact with the Blacktrinian weapon it was like the immoveable object being hit by the unstoppable force. Neither won, all it did was hurt those involved.

But the home team was used to such events and quickly countered, as Nigel quickly switched tactics and knocked the spear down so quickly the spear holder fell forward, as Nigel thrust his head weapon out, causing Longius' armoured head to collide with the well-made pole, stunning him for a brief moment, which gave Scalpel the time to pull off his next manoeuvre as he thrust his halberd down, burying the end in the ground, and then swung up on his implanted weapon and did what seemed to be a handstand on the end of it before he swifted his weight forward and flipped off, returning himself to a upright position and landing heavily upon his foe's back forcing Longius to the floor. Scalpel may have looked only slightly muscular, but he was actually very heavy. As explained beforehand, his race was very dense in physical terms; alongside that he also had his metallic claws on both his hands and feet, and his cape that was weighted like a thick quilt. Al in all he weighed roughly three hundred pounds. Not bad for only five foot nine inches in height.

Longius bit the dirt in a literal way, though he managed to keep his hand on his spear, as he felt the great weight that had flattened him jump off. Not happy that he had been forced to eat concrete, Longius shoved up and swung out with his spear. Scalpel, being all too proud to have actually pulled off a move sometimes referred to as 'The Flaming Candle', allowed his foe to actually get the drop on him and trip the alien. Growling, Nigel went to get up, only to found Longius had done so first and stabbed downward. The good news was, he missed Nigel's body. The bad news was, he had had his loose clothing speared, allowing his foe to lift him up and swing him around like a rag doll on the end of a stick.

"Don't think just because you have a similar weapon..." Longius said, twisting his foe up and then pulling him back down to the ground with a strong thud. "It means you can beat me! I am the master! The showstopper! The best there ever will be! I am LONGIUS!"

And he yanked Scalpel back up and swung his spear out in preparation for another ground slam, but this time his spear ripped out of Scalpel's shirt and threw him back over to the museum and then INTO the musuem, causing the doctor to bounce once or twice and then roll a little, breaking through not only a few windows but a few very pricey exhibits.

What really irked him was that not only had he allowed himself to be tossed in such a way, and not only had he ripped one of the few shirts he had that was in one piece, but what was worst of all was the comical finish of the attack as he flew and bounced through the museum at quite a bit of speed, finally coming to a stop with his back hitting and then resting against a pedestal, causing it to buckle slightly and in turn causing the vase that sat upon it to rock backwards and forward, taunting him as if he didn't watch enough cartoons.

Scalpel growled loudly and lashed his fist out in anger, striking the ground…and forcing the vase to finally give way to comic relief and fall on his head, smashing quite loudly. As bits of priceless whowithjit fell from his hair, he grumbled in Blacktrinian, his eyes conveying a murderous look which would have generally been out of character for Scalpel. Usually after a almost pratfallish toss like this, he would be pretty angry but just get up and go off to fight more, not pause to glare and growl.

But it was because of said growl that he noticed something; a glint just in front of the sitting alien. It was a flat, metallic silver piece that seemed like your generic piece of scrap metal, but it had a aura about it. It made him feel strange.

He almost felt…powerful near it.

He couldn't quite explain it; all he knew was that there was something emanating from the shard of metal. On closer inspection, he could see slight engravings on the surface in a language he couldn't understand nor hope to learn. The feeling of intensity continued to grow.

A part of Scalpel's mind told him to run, told him to try and hide somewhere, anywhere and not to touch it. His logic told him that the shard was of something of more power than he could comprehend and even if he knew what it was he probably shouldn't touch it. But something new, something strange, something else compelled him to ignore everything he knew and everything he learned and force him to reach out with his talon like fingers to take such power for himself so he could finally prove he wasn't a 'bit player' as the humans put it.

A chance for him to have the power for once, a chance to have enough power so he wasn't a play thing, so he didn't get a new scar with each new foe, so he could stand up and knock THEM down rather then him being the one that was always sent flying…

His clawed hand was only a little bit away from it, just a few inches, slowly moving down. His fingers opened up a little more to receive the artefact, as a glow seemed to appear around it, like the light was trying to reach up and grab hold of the doctor's jagged digits.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!"

The scream came out of nowhere, somehow both ringing through the air and yet seem almost transparent, as if it was being carried on the wind. Despite this strange quality, it was loud enough so that Scalpel wasn't the only one to hear it. The Titans, who were now back to fighting Longius, also heard the scream echo though the wind…but Longius felt it first, felt the power he wanted, the power he sought, the power he required; required to do what 'needed' to be done.

Scalpel's eyes went wide, his logic thankfully taking over once more as he sharply pulled back from the shard. Looking up, he saw Longius, steamrolling his way towards the alien at speeds that you wouldn't expect from someone with that amount of armour upon his frame, and he suddenly knew exactly what Longius was looking for. In that sublime moment he figured out why Longius was attacking that museum instead of robbing it, destroying everything that most people would consider valuable to get something that was of incalculable value to him...

"Don't let him get that shard!" The voice yelled again, and Scalpel agreed. Letting the spear wielder get the shard would only cause more trouble. Pulling out another tube from his jacket pocket he pressed a button and another glaive, though slightly cruder than his usual one, snapped open. As Longius closed in, Scalpel flipped to his feet and hit the shard behind him as if it was a hockey puck before standing up to Longius.

"How do you humans put it? If I want that piece you will have to go through me?"

"Close enough freak." Longius growled, and lashed out with his spear, stabbing forward and of course, Scalpel dodged to the side, spinning his own body to avoid the blow, however Longius proceeded to completely ignore Scalpel as he dived forward to try and grab the shard...

Remember a few months ago? During the incident involving the Chronoton Distorter, which had its name changed from the Chronoton Destabilizer and which was changed from the Chronoton Detonator? Well, one of the many things Scalpel did during that time loop was to learn and play an earth game called golf where he, as he put it, golfed for Titans. Well, he said it would help him, and at the time Noel was skeptical (not to mention covered in clay), but now the alien realized that it had indeed helped. As Nigel spun his body, he had allowed his glaive to drag a little and once he was in the right place, he planted his feet and allowed his glaive to not only catch up but to follow through, performing a golf swing from the other side of hell and planting the flat edge of his crescent blade into his opponent's face, which not only stopped his forward motion but sending him flying back with more whiplash than he would have liked.

Longius flew back and crashed through another of the exhibits. Growling, he stood back up and rushed for the alien, only to get a bo slammed onto the top of his helmet. After a lot of trying, Robin finally was able to land this hit upon him, once again driving Longius down. And this, he appeared to be out.

Robin slowly, but surely, walked toward their downed foe, placing his bo on the back of the metallic torso armour he wore and lightly poking him. Longius didn't move. Robin started to relax…

Longius lashed out with his spear again, and just like Scalpel, Robin hadn't expected the foe to fight like an animal and yet think like a man, as he pretended to be down and then lashed out when he was surrounded. The spear's pole slammed into Robin's kneecap, forcing it to the side, or in other words the wrong way. Robin fell with a scream.

"Stupid! Stupid!" He cursed himself. Not only had someone gotten the drop on him, someone had done it when he should have seen it coming a mile away. It was probably why he was still Robin, and not Nightwing or Batman. Yet at any rate.

Forcing his way to his feet, Longius made yet another break for the shard, jumping, diving and spinning to avoid the numerous attacks by the different Titans. The latest one to come between him and the shard though was a six foot six black man who was made of more metal then flesh, and who introduced that superior metal component that now replaced a certain end of a limb to the metal that shielded the flesh and bone of their foe's opened helmet.

In other words Cyborg lamped him with a mean right hook.

Once again Longius skidded back, though this time he remained on his feet. Which was just as well as Cyborg followed up with a mean body punch from his left fist, and then another right hook (which was also mean) before a light left uppercut (mean too), making sure his foe didn't fall to the ground. Cyborg was putting his strength into the boxing like blows, but also making sure they wouldn't be TOO damaging, just enough to knock the wind out of him. Cyborg pulled back after a left straight jab (wouldja believe it? Mean!) for another right (you get the idea); however this time instead of a punch he unfurled his sonic cannon to make sure this right was 'heard'.

Longius had definitely been dazed by the attack, not really paying much attention to the teen machine, seeing as he had spent a lot of his time to blocking and dodging rather than identifying just how he was throwing the punches, but he did know one thing. If Cyborg was pulling back, it meant he was going to hit him and it was going to hurt, but combined with the hissing noise, that meant only one thing.

Longius ducked to the side as the blast came, almost deafening one of his ears, and as he dodged, probably out of instinct than anything else, he grabbed a long metal bar that was part of the supports for a concrete pedestal. Having grabbed it, he yanked it out and stabbed it through the metal work of Cyborg's arm. Normally that wouldn't have done too much damage…had he not been firing the cannon as the long, barbed pole skewered it. This caused the cannon to overload, and the resulting sonic explosion not only threw Cyborg right back out of the museum, but also drove Scalpel and Beast Boy to their knees holding their ears in pain. The metal man landed hard on his back, before looking at his ruined arm.

"Damn! This ain't funny!" He cursed, referring to how many times he seemed to have been damaged like this. It was a good thing he couldn't get scars, as he would have a mountain load of them. It was the problem when you where the group's tanker really, as you had to stand at the front and take the punishment while others waited behind you and prepared for an attack.

Inside the museum, Longius managed to pull himself up after being thrown back a bit himself from the blast, and walked forward calmly as if nothing could stop him. Everyone who had come across him was down by fair or foul means. Well, most of them as he realized that a certain white Titan was still up and about and hence he made a dash for the shard, hoping that he could get to it before he came.

Sure enough though Savior descended from the ceiling like a giant spider, his Shimmer firing out strands and grabbing the walls as he followed at a quick pace, but Longius was closer to the shard than he was. Savior lashed out with almost all of his Shimmer stands, but Longius seemed to have eyes in the back of his head as he dodged, jumped, rolled and dived around them. He was a lot more agile than he looked, then again it could just be that he was a slippery guy.

Scalpel saw him coming, but because his head was still ringing with pain he could only do a basic slash. Unfortunately, not only did he miss Longius, he got Savior. Without the finesse to be able to pull back in time, due to the fact he felt like he had been inside a bell when it was rung (that was the curse of having such large ears), he kept on going with his slash and sliced one of the Shimmer lines, causing Savior to jerk and fall, landing on top of Scalpel. The doctor just pushed him off and turned, getting to his feet slowly and watched as Longius reached down.

"FINALLY." He said, his tone pure malignant joy.

They had been too late, but they could never have realized the repercussions of allowing Longius to receive the shard. A bright light shone out from where he stood as soon as his hand touched the glowing metal. Each part of him seemed to shine out as his form turned towards Scalpel and the others. A yell that could only be described as one of power and triumph came from him as a shockwave shot out, the same colour as the glow of the metal. It pushed them all back and seemed to clear the space around where he was.

And…it was an essence they had felt before, an essence that made the Titans wonder.

* * *

Raven has been resting in the tower and had actually fallen asleep with her resting upon a large book. Beforehand, she had actually started to see if she could write some of her own spells, and had done so for the ones she had created in a large, leather backed book with fresh pages that soon would become the somewhat brown and tattered pages of old that spell books ALWAYS had. She had planned to do this to her book herself, as it would disguise it amongst her other books. The last thing she wanted was for someone to get their hands on the book and use her new spells against her. Most of them so far were simple and revolved around three word incantations, the first of which being her all too famous words which act as an 'all purpose' spell. She had found though, despite its usefulness, it had proved that it could be a bit weak at times when confronting other more powerful sorcerers, which was the main reason for the book if she was being honest with herself. She wanted to have a more powerful spell just in case, and if not maybe her knowledge could help the future mages, though she would probably live long enough to teach the future mages what they needed to know anyway. It worried her that she would live so long while those around her died, but it was something that couldn't be avoided. But because it couldn't be avoided she had ignored it and went back to researching a binding spell to see if she could cross it with that of a boomerang spell, a spell that shot past the opponent and came around and hopefully against his or her turned back.

But during her research, Raven had fallen asleep, a large and hefty book acting as her pillow while she napped, her desk covered in papers and notes and a half filled glass or milk. It was needed, after all it had calcium and such made your bones stronger. The heroes joked about the fact Superman actually advertised milk. Out of all the things he promoted milk with that whole 'Got Milk?' campaign. In any case, Raven was actually having a nice dream, though what it was usually contradicted with Raven's style. She was usually described as a 'winter' person, and the dream had her relaxing with Noel at a beach during the sunset.

Apart from that we don't really know what happened before and after it, but what we do know is that when that shockwave was sent out she bolted upward. Her eyes went from peacefully shut to alarmingly open and awake in less than a second, her mind racing as she accidentally pushed papers and that half filled glass off the table, her body moving from a slouch to ramrod straight at an frightening rate.

"What the hell was that?" She asked, lightly rubbing her head and the bandages upon it. Whatever it was, it was strong, and it resonated with magical power. A magic that wasn't quite right. It was like smelling a rose from your home town, a rose you were used too and then going to another place and smelling another rose. It had the same generic smell, but it wasn't the same, the smell was tinted with something. And that is what Raven felt; the magic had been tainted by something, like a decayed flavour.

She rubbed her head again, and the wound ached as she rubbed a little too hard. Suddenly angered at the fact she got benched for something so small, she started flipping rapidly through her book and found a new spell she had made that morning. It was a curative spell, but it required a place to store the pain. Her own healing powers usually took the pain of another person into her body, but of course she couldn't really do that with herself, and so she had started to experiment by trying to put the injury on another object or person if need be. She got up and grabbed a full sized manikin and placed it in front of her. It happened to be the one she used to hang up her costume, mainly her cape. Well, that surge pretty much ensured she was going back into the field, so she may as well test it now.

Taking her cape off of the mannequin and placing it upon a chair, she prepared herself as she crossed her legs and floated in mid-air. Chanting lightly, the injuries on her head and body slowly fading into nothingness and seeming to transfer in a steam onto the non living person. The injuries and medical attention that had been done to her appeared upon the dummy in every intricate detail: the cuts stab wound to her thigh, the slice across her forehead and around her Chakra, the bruises to her abdomen, everything, leaving Raven in pristine condition, fresh out of the box.

Raven knew that wouldn't stick though. The spell would only last twenty four hours at most, maybe less. She couldn't tell and didn't know, but she knew that when it did she had to stop, as once the period was done the injuries reverted back to their owner. Taking off the bandages, she slipped her cloak on and over her casual clothing and warped away, hoping she wasn't too late.

She wasn't too late; the fight had only just begun as the Titans all managed to right themselves, digging themselves in as best they could. Unlike some shockwaves, which pulsed, this one was a constant blast of air and it continued to push the Titans back. Savior had managed to regain his mind and slung up Shimmer lines all over the walls to try and prevent him from losing his footing and going flying. Cyborg had made his way back into the museum and was using his weight to his advantage as had grabbed hold of a stone pillar with his free (and only) hand. Terra had made a rock platform behind her and she was using that to prevent her from going anywhere, though she wondered if that was a good idea. Beast Boy had transformed into a mole and went into the dirt that had been caused when Terra had ripped the floor up for an attack, started to dig his way towards Longius. Scalpel had dug himself into the ground, his sharp claws acting as anchors as Robin and Gauntlet held onto his cape for dear life hoping the buckles on his shoulders didn't pop off at the last minute. The Goth member of the team was lucky; she arrived a moment after the shockwave had started to die down, along with the glowing. The Titans righted themselves, got up and surrounded Longius, though they could tell straight away that they might be in over their head.

As Longius was now changed. He stood there, no longer in simple bronze armour. It had changed completely. For a start the armour itself was now silver and any cloth sticking out from under it was a blue colour. It was in the style now of a more advanced version of Roman legionnaire armour where it had several wide strips for shoulder armour one on top of another. Silver bands strung across his stomach and chest, leading into what seemed to be a solid chest plate with a spearpoint edged into the silver, a spear stuck in a body. His legs were baggy trousers with armour on his kneecap and downwards resembling devils and more spears. His feet were armoured as well, even though they looked more like sandals then feet armor like the kind medival knights wore. Strips of leather now hung from his waist with studs on them and the letters 'L', 'G' and 'S' engraved into the grey leather which fell to his knees. A light, mid torso length cape hung from his back, also in a light grey colour to almost imitate the silver of his armour. His helmet had also changed. It was no longer like that of a knight, but of that of a knight from the future. The top half was now sleek and coned down. His eyes were no longer visible as it covered everything, from the very top of his head to his filtrum, the gap under his nose and followed his cheeks around. Almost like an spearhead itself, except the lines that crossed it were not that of a spear tip, but were lines that flowed from the 'nose' of the helmet and up behind and around, segmenting the helmet. There was now a plume upon the helmet, but not in the traditional centurion's sense where it went from left to right, but in the comic centurion style from front to back. But there was nothing comic about this large blue and silver plume. It was short, but wild and impressive. All in all, his new (upgraded) outfit was imposing.

And then he raised his spear, a spear that now had a blue staff with a silver snake curling around it in 'silver leaf' towards the tip, which had a large buckle upon it and from it hung slips of paper, each with words in Latin. Raven could read Latin and while she couldn't read most of it she could see one of the strips clearly, and that one evidently read Vae Victus.

Woe to the conquered.

"I am Longius." He spoke. "Contemplate my name on the branches of the tree of woe."

He pointed the spear at the Titans. The end had been extended, albeit only on one side. Before it had been noted that it looked like some parts were missing from the blade, and now Robin knew just what had been missing. A section of the spearhead was now rebuilt but not completely repaired. It was like a puzzle, splitting a spear head into four sections you would have the top, bottom, left and right sides. There was the small triangle for the bottom and now the left section was added. If we were to look at it comically, it now looked like a cosmic can opener.

But the Titans weren't thinking like that as they were going to be on the receiving edge of whatever hit them, and they guessed one thing above all else, and that was with this new look came new powers.

And boy where they right.

Longius swung his spear around him and then brought it hard down upon the ground. The Titans dove out of the way of the jagged line that shot across the floor, expecting it to crack open and swallow them whole, but it didn't. It wasn't the cracking line of an earthquake-esque ground-splitting but a line of power along the floor, a line that split apart into a multitude of lines, ones that each went straight for each of the Titans. These blue lines of energy continued to follow the young heroes until it came into close contact and exploded upward, sending a beam of energy blasting out towards those who were flying and to those who weren't. All the Titans were caught with a full on blast of whatever their line had to offer, tossing the older teenagers around like toys

As they collapsed, Longius took a step forward, strong and powerful, as he walked through the valley of burnt marks the line had left on the floor that the Titans had created when they had tried to dodge. The Titans groaned as tried to get up from the blue energy line attack, rubbing their arms, heads and other extremities.

Raven, however, had managed to escape via a teleport, and hence was fine as she floated in front of Longius as he tried to make his casual escape. She raised her hand and chanted to herself, a purple blast coming forth from her palm that was roughly the size of your average basketball, a purple and black flame which was the generic blast when someone learned dark magic.

Longius just raised the spear slowly and the tip seemed to absorb the attack. Raven hadn't expected that to work, it wasn't the most powerful of spells, but it was a good test spell as it couldn't be deflected back at its owner and had enough power to do something if it had hit.

Or so Raven thought.

As with another fancy spin with his spear he pointed it straight at Raven, and the energy she had fired into it came back at her in a beam form, blasting the young sorceress back before she could utter the words to form a shield. The little scene might have been short, but it had been enough time for the Titans to get back up to their feet.

Scalpel lunged in with his spare glaive and slashed at Longius like a madman, only to find not only was Longius blocking his attacks, he looked like he wasn't even trying. That was bad enough, but what irked Scalpel next wasn't something that happened every day. As Scalpel brought his weapon down upon his foe, Longius put his hand up and caught his glaive in mid swing. If this wasn't surprising enough, Longius then swung in with his spear and broke the glaive in half as if it was made of rotten wood, not a tough (though crude) Blacktrinian metal. Nigel just looked down at the gap in his weapon, his eyes wide as a snarl came upon his face, but it was a snarl of shock rather than the usual one of anger. Longius wasted no time and thrust forward with a kick into Scalpel's gut that sent him flying back and knocked enough wind out of him for at least two days worth of breathing, or at least that was what it felt like.

Savior jumped into where his friend had left off in the attacks, but he was simply back handed away and then found the spear, moving with insane speed for something so large, rammed through straight through one of the Shimmer lines and into the floor. Savior jerked in agony as he fell to the ground, now pinned, but it wasn't the end of it as Longius once again kicked his foe, the kick bad enough but for Savior it hurt even more as his Shimmer ripped apart as the end got yanked out when he flew through the air.

Robin also jumped in to try and get Longius. The blunt end of said foe's spear uppercutted the teen hero in the mid-air before Longius spun it and used the flat edge of the spear to smash him back down to the earth below.

Having decimating three of the better close combat Titans, Longius again attempted to leave…and then a fourth Titan came up to the batting plate as a green tiger jumped out of the ground. Yes, the ground. Beast Boy had spent a lot of time burrowing under Longius, and hence he couldn't see what was going on, but had felt the energy and come up to the surface as a spider to see what was happening. Waiting until he almost got stepped on, Beast Boy lingered until the last second and then grew into the nastiest tiger he could and lunged forward.

But the spear was once again up and in the way, blocking the Titan as he attacked. But this time it wasn't going to be a fair fight as Gauntlet ran up behind Longius and hit Longius in the back with a yellow energy ram. To be quite frank, it may as well have bounced off him because it didn't do a lot. Longius, more annoyed than anything, outright ignored Gauntlet's attack as pushed Beast Boy away and spun with his spear outstretched. Beast Boy just managed to turn into a triceratops to allow his armoured head to take the brunt of it while Gauntlet raised his Gauntlet energy to try and add to the protection.

Guess what?

The spear slashed through both the armoured bone and the shield, carving a large slice out of the gauntlet energy while Beast Boy reverted to his human form, now sporting a large cut on his head. Gauntlet was as shocked as Scalpel was and was about to protest, but their silver foe then snagged Gauntlet with his spear, picked up the energy wielder, and threw him straight into Beast Boy, sending them both a little dizzy.

"Just let me go." He stated.

Cyborg and Terra charged in, Terra planning to crush him between a rock and Cyborg, but as with the other plans, this didn't work.

"Fine. I'll use the back. Ta-ta for now." He said, and just as the two Titans were almost about to smash him, there was a bright flash and then Longius was gone, escaped, causing the anorexic geomancer and the tall and powerfully built half machine to crash into each other and collapse in a pile upon the floor.

And the dust settled.

The Titans groaned and struggled to stand as Starfire dropped down, having grabbed a shirt from somewhere, most likely off the rack of a nearby store. She helped them up, making sure they were okay.

Scalpel pulled himself from the rubble and stared dumbfounded at the broken glaive that was still in his hands before growling deeply and throwing it in rage against the floor. Yes, something was defiantly wrong with him it seemed, but it was probably just a lot of combined stresses.

Raven rolled Savior over onto his back and made sure her boyfriend was still breathing, which he was, thankfully. He looked in confusion as he reached up to touch her unblemished forehead. She just gave him a look saying 'I'll explain later'.

Robin pulled himself up, and then nearly falling back down. He would have if it hadn't been for Starfire's help. He held out his leg and slammed his palm against the kneecap, hard, forcing it back into place. That hurt almost as much as it being dislocated had.

And a new foot landed lightly, effortlessly upon the ground as the Titans all pulled themselves together. Beast Boy managed to turn into a snake and slither out of the pile that formed him and Gauntlet.

"You got any leaflets for this situation dude?" Beast Boy joked as he turned back. Gauntlet pulled a bent wad out of his back pocket and flipped through them.

"Not today."

Beast Boy groaned. Where the hell was he getting them from?

But his attention was drawn as he felt a cold wind pass him, followed by a warm breeze. He turned quickly and his ears dropped as his pupils dilated.

A ghostly figure moved to where the epicentre of the attack was. You couldn't see many details, but you could see colours, faint tints of shades trying to hold onto what little opacity they had left before they completely faded into a translucent mess. Slowly, silently, the Titans each stood up and walked, or floated, over to the figure as he bent down. We could tell it was a he, as the body form suggested so. The phantasm stood back up and turned to face the heroes.

"I told you to not let him get that shard." The figure said.

"And just who exactly are you to be telling us what to..." Terra was cut off as Robin walked forward; the realization hitting him as if it was a hammer. The expression on the older Titan's face explained it all. The newer Titans didn't have a clue, but the original five did, they knew, boy did they know.

"You."

"More or less." Timothy Trevor said.

* * *

I know, I'm bad. I should stop using cliffhangers, but they are just such a handy plot device! See you in the next chapter!


End file.
